Date: 02-25-2008
Anglo-Dutch company Reed Elsevier said it would sell off a number of its trade magazines in an effort to lessen its exposure to the uncertain advertising market. The company plans to sell its Reed Business Information unit, which includes some 400 publications. Among the most widely read titles are Variety, the Hollywood trade magazine, and Publishers Weekly. The company also intends to purchase information services company ChoicePoint for $4.1 billion. Investors cheered the news, sending company’s share price higher. A Reed Elsevier spokeswoman said that the company will tighten its focus on online and workflow solutions, and CEO Crispin Davis said that by combining ChoicePoint with its LexisNexis database service, Reed Elsevier will soon become a leader in the fast-growing market for personal data.
