LexisNexis, Anderson Publishing Company to Merge
Ohio publisher’s offerings to expand statutory, law enforcement, and law school offerings

DAYTON, OH, October 09, 2002 - LexisNexis Group and Anderson Publishing Company, Cincinnati, today announced a definitive merger agreement between the two companies. The deal is part of a continuing effort by LexisNexis, the leading global provider of authoritative legal and business research information, to further enhance its comprehensive and authoritative product line, especially for legal professionals practicing in small firms.

Anderson is the market-leading publisher of Page’s Ohio Revised Code Annotated and authoritative secondary analytical information. Ohio is among the top 10 U.S. markets for legal research services with approximately 34,000 attorneys and nine law schools. The acquisition also will strengthen LexisNexis print and online materials for Kentucky, Tennessee, Indiana and Michigan lawyers.

The boards of directors of Anderson and of Reed Elsevier Group plc, the parent to LexisNexis Group, have approved the $21 million shareholder buyout, which is now subject to a vote of approval by Anderson shareholders, including shares held in an employee stock ownership plan (ESOP) trust. The companies expect the sale will be completed by October 31.

According to the agreement, Anderson would become a wholly owned subsidiary of Matthew Bender & Co., another publishing member of the LexisNexis Group. The company’s publishing operations will remain in Cincinnati, where the company employs 77 people.

“We look forward to the Anderson staff joining our family of legal publishing brands,” said Lou Andreozzi, president and CEO of LexisNexis North American Legal Markets. “Anderson Publishing will enhance significantly the value of the offerings that LexisNexis provides to legal professionals in Ohio, especially small firm practitioners who make up a large contingent of Anderson’s customers.” 

“We are pleased with the terms of the agreement for LexisNexis to acquire Anderson Publishing. The combination of the two companies is a positive step for employees and shareholders because we can leverage development and product distribution activities to the benefit of our customers,” said John Mason, chairman of the board of Anderson Publishing. “Customers should continue to receive the high quality products or services to which they have become accustomed.”

Anderson Publishing has a rich heritage in legal publishing, beginning with its founding in 1887 by William Harvey Anderson. The company specializes in four major areas of publishing: legal research publications for states; legal research publications by topic; law school publications by topic and criminal justice publications by topic. Its premier titles include Page's Ohio Revised Code Annotated and Anderson's Ohio Civil Practice with Forms.

About LexisNexis

LexisNexis™ is the global leader in comprehensive and authoritative legal, news and business information and tailored applications. Its online services combine searchable access to over four billion documents from thousands of sources. A member of Reed Elsevier Group plc [NYSE:  ENL; NYSE:  RUK], LexisNexis is headquartered in Dayton, Ohio, USA, and does business in 100 countries with 12,000 employees worldwide. The company offers an extensive range of online and print legal and regulatory information products, tools, customized Web applications and critical filing services that help legal professionals reach confident decisions and comply with the law. In addition to LexisNexis at www.lexis.com, the leading Web-based legal research service, LexisNexis includes some the world's most respected legal publishers such as Martindale-Hubbell, Matthew Bender, Butterworths, Les Editions du Juris-Classeur, Abeledo-Perrot and Orac. For more information on products or services, please visit www.lexisnexis.com.

LexisNexis™ at lexis.com is the 2002 Favorite Legal Research Tool of the TechnoLawyer Community, an online network of e-newsletters in which legal professionals share information and experiences about legal technology. LexisNexis at lexis.com and lexisONE^sm are winners of the 2002 Codie Awards sponsored by the Software and Information Industry Association (SIIA), which also awarded LexisNexis its prestigious Corporate Achievement Award.  The Codies recognize the software and information industry's finest products and services and honor excellence for corporate achievement and philanthropic efforts.