Wolters Kluwer Law & Business Acquires GEE and Consult GEE
Compliance Professionals in the U.K. Set to Benefit from Expanded
Portfolio
New York, NY (December 11, 2007) - Wolters Kluwer Law & Business
today announced it has acquired the GEE portfolio of compliance
products from Thomson Legal and Regulatory's Sweet & Maxwell
division. Wolters Kluwer Law & Business, part of the Wolters Kluwer
Tax, Accounting & Legal division, is a leading provider of research
products and software solutions in key specialty areas for legal and
business professionals. The GEE products and services will become
part of the Croner group within Wolters Kluwer (UK) Limited.
GEE is one of the most respected providers of regulatory and
compliance information solutions in the United Kingdom. Wolters
Kluwer UK is one of the foremost providers of business information,
consultancy services and software for HR, health and safety and tax
and accounting in the United Kingdom and serves professionals under
the Croner and CCH brand names.
The GEE portfolio includes a comprehensive range of compliance
products, in a range of formats including online, print and CD
content, telephone helplines, software and the industry leading
publication Pay Magazine. These products help HR, health and safety
and in-company administration professionals comply with the law,
reduce risk and increase productivity (www.gee.co.uk).
Croner also has a comprehensive line of products and is well known
for providing reliable support for legal compliance and best practice
in the areas of HR, health and safety, through its highly respected
print publications, such as the Reference Book for Employers, expert
advice by its advisory services and online via Croner-i online
services.
Catherine Wolfe, CEO of Wolters Kluwer UK, commented: "The
acquisition of the GEE portfolio is an excellent fit because it
expands our ability to provide innovative solutions to our
customers."
Catherine adds: "GEE has a number of complementary products,
including environmental content and specialty content for several
industries. We will continue to invest in this content to meet the
needs of current GEE customers, and we will also introduce these
products to our existing Croner customers. The GEE acquisition will
further advance Wolters Kluwer UK as the professional's first choice
for authoritative, interpretative expert advice, information and
productivity tools."
Peter Lake, Managing Director of Sweet & Maxwell commented: "The sale
of the GEE products and services completes the recent portfolio
review we have conducted in Sweet & Maxwell. Wolters Kluwer UK
operates in the markets served by GEE products and we wish the GEE
employees, authors and customers every success within Wolters Kluwer
UK."
Terms of the acquisition were not disclosed.
About Wolters Kluwer Law & Business
Wolters Kluwer Law & Business is a leading provider of research
products and software solutions in key specialty areas for legal and
business professionals. Wolters Kluwer UK is part of the Wolters
Kluwer Law & Business group. Wolters Kluwer UK incorporating the core
brands, Croner and CCH, is one of the UK's most respected providers
of business information and consultancy services, providing a range
of smart information tools that help make businesses more effective
and profitable; from online interactive content to advisory services,
liability insurance and professional journals, Wolters Kluwer UK
meets the full range of customer needs for compliance, risk
management and productivity solutions. www.wolterskluwer.co.uk.
Wolters Kluwer is a leading global information services and
publishing company with 2006 annual revenues of ¤3.4 billion and
approximately 18,450 people worldwide, and maintains operations
across Europe, North America, and Asia Pacific. Wolters Kluwer is
headquartered in Amsterdam, the Netherlands. Its shares are quoted on
Euronext Amsterdam (WKL) and are included in the AEX and Euronext 100
indices. For more information, visit www.wolterskluwer.com.
Contact: Leslie Bonacum Kevin Entricken
Director of Communications Vice President,
Wolters Kluwer Investor Relations
Tax, Accounting & Legal Wolters Kluwer nv
+ 1 847 267 7153 + 31 20 6070 407
mediahelp@cch.com ir@wolterskluwer.com
Forward-looking Statements
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statements may be identified by words such as "expect," "should,"
"could," "shall," and similar expressions. Wolters Kluwer cautions
that such forward-looking statements are qualified by certain risks
and uncertainties that could cause actual results and events to
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