Reed Elsevier and Thomson to Buy Harcourt

Anglo-Dutch publisher Reed Elsevier reached a deal to acquire U.S. schoolbook publisher Harcourt General Inc. for $4.5 billion, or $59 a share. Reed, which owns Hollywood trade paper Variety and legal database Lexis Nexis, said it also has agreed to sell a large slice of Harcourt to Thomson Corp. of Canada for $2.06 billion. Reed also will assume about $1.2 billion in Harcourt debt in the deal. Reed will boost its position as the world’s top science publisher by taking on Harcourt’s science and technical arm, while beefing up its fledgling education publishing business with Harcourt’s grade-schools operation. Toronto-based Thomson will buy Harcourt’s college-publishing division and most of the corporate and professional arm. Newton, Mass.-based Harcourt began looking for a buyer in July after several attempts to become more streamlined failed to lift its sagging share price. Reed and Thomson said they did not anticipate major regulatory difficulties with the deal. Harcourt shares jumped $4.71 to close at $56.81 on the New York Stock Exchange.