Message #7 From:
NewsBot Date: December 15, 2006 05:13:00 AM
NAVH News Cambridge Information Group Announces Agreement to Acquire ProQuest Information and Learning
BETHESDA, Md.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Cambridge Information Group (CIG) announced today it has entered into an
agreement to acquire ProQuest Information and Learning, a segment of
ProQuest Company (NYSE:PQE), for approximately $222 million.
Under the agreement, CIG will combine its Bethesda, Maryland-based CSA
subsidiary with Ann Arbor, Mich.-based ProQuest Information and Learning
to create a new, privately held independent company. The new company
plans to continue operations in both locations.
Both CSA and ProQuest offer libraries and their users access to
high-quality electronic resources. CSA and ProQuest will serve a
combined customer base of more than 25,000 library customers.
CSA’s products include CSA Illumina, the
platform from which more than 100 scholarly databases in the natural
sciences, social sciences, arts and humanities and technology fields are
made accessible; Ulrich's Serials Analysis System, a powerful tool for
library professionals who need to identify, analyze, evaluate and create
reports about the library's print and electronic serials holdings; and
the recently launched CSA Illustrata, which permits searching and
retrieval of charts, graphs, illustrations and their captions within
articles and documents.
ProQuest provides global access to one of the largest online content
repositories in the world. It is best known for its extensive collection
of business, economics, general reference, genealogy, humanities, social
sciences, scientific, technical and medical content. ProQuest’s
product lines include Chadwyck-Healey®, a
collection of more than 40 extensive reference resources of the world’s
literature; UMI® microform vault, the largest
commercially available microform collection in the world; ProQuest
Digital Dissertations; Serials Solutions; and ProQuest Historical
Newspapers™, an archive of 14 million pages
dating as far back as 1764 which includes The New York Times, The
Wall Street Journal, The Washington Post, The Christian
Science Monitor, The Los Angeles Times, The Chicago Tribune, The
Atlanta Constitution, The Boston Globe and The Hartford Courant.
Andrew M. Snyder, president of CIG, said, “Combining
ProQuest’s unparalleled collections with CSA’s
own rich content will enable us to further build upon our mission of
delivering an exceptional research service. The new company will
leverage deep content sets with a history of innovative product
development to bring the community of libraries, researchers, faculty
and students one of the most extensive electronic resources available.”
After the transaction closes, Martin Kahn will serve as CEO of the new
company. He will relocate to Ann Arbor, Mich. A seasoned information
industry executive, Kahn is the former chairman of business and
financial information aggregator OneSource Information Services, Inc. He
also served as chairman of Ovid Technologies, Inc., an aggregator of
medical and scientific databases and full-text journal articles and as
president of BRS Information Technologies, Inc. Kahn earned an MBA from
Harvard Business School and a BA from Yale.
Kahn said, “I am thrilled to have the
opportunity to lead this exciting new company. Both companies have for
many years dedicated themselves to serving the needs of librarians,
scholars and students. We are committed to building on those traditions
to create a great company for many years to come.”
Matt Dunie, currently president of CSA, will serve as president of the
new company.
Dunie commented, “The ProQuest Information
and Learning and CSA products are complementary. We believe that both
companies share many values – especially a
focus on the needs of end users – and that
the new company has a promising future.”
David “Skip”
Prichard, currently president of ProQuest Information and Learning, will
be an active contributor to the transition process. After the transition
is successfully under way, he plans to pursue new career opportunities
consistent with his interests and leadership experience.
Prichard said, “I believe the combination of
CSA and ProQuest Information and Learning will be a successful venture
and an important contributor to the library community. Both companies
have a strong heritage, a deep sense of responsibility to the materials
we present and an obligation of excellent service to the communities we
serve.”
About Cambridge Information Group
Cambridge Information Group (CIG) is a privately owned group of
information services companies and educational institutions located
around the world. CIG’s operating companies
include: CSA, R.R. Bowker, RefWorks and the Sotheby’s
Institute of Art. CIG is also the largest shareholder of Navtech, Inc.
(NASDAQ:NAVH.OB).
About CSA
CSA has been an innovator and leader in publishing and distributing
quality abstracts and indexes for more than 30 years. A worldwide
information company, CSA’s products serve as
a guide to researchers, faculty, librarians and students enabling
discovery and aiding the identification, management and organization of
quality information. CSA specializes in publishing and distributing, in
print and electronically, more than 100 bibliographic and full-text
databases and journals in four primary editorial areas: natural
sciences, social sciences, arts & humanities and technology. CSA is
headquartered in Bethesda, Maryland and has offices throughout the U.S.,
Canada, Latin America, Australia, Hong Kong, Japan, Europe and the
United Kingdom. Researchers in more than 4,000 institutions worldwide
use CSA information resources and CSA’s print
journals are used in more than 80 countries. For more information about
CSA, visit www.csa.com.
About ProQuest Information and Learning
ProQuest Information and Learning is a world leader in collecting,
organizing, and publishing information for researchers, faculty and
students in libraries and schools. It is widely known for its strength
in business and economics, general reference, genealogy, humanities,
social sciences and STM content. The company develops premium databases
comprising periodicals, newspapers, dissertations, out-of-print books,
and other scholarly information from more than 9,000 publishers
worldwide. Users access the information through the ProQuest®
Web-based online information system, Chadwyck-Healey®
electronic and microform resources, UMI®
microform and print reference products, eLibrary®
and SIRS® educational resources, and Serials
Solutions e-resource access and management solutions. ProQuest®
Smart Search was named "Best Specialist Search Product" by the
International Information Industry Awards in late 2005. For more
information about ProQuest Information and Learning, visit www.il.proquest.com.
