Wolters Kluwer announced today that it has reached a major agreement to improve its competitive position in the Italian legal market with the acquisition of 33% of the shares of the Italian legal publishing house CEDAM. CEDAM is Italy's highly esteemed brand for legal doctrine and authoritative proprietary content.
CEDAM provides a portfolio of 25 journals and 6,000 books to lawyers and legal professionals as well as universities in Italy. With a well-developed marketing and sales force throughout Italy, their contact with the legal and academic professionals is excellent. The company has a network of highly recognized authors. CEDAM based in Padova (Italy) has annual revenues (2002) of approximately EUR 26 million and over 80 employees.
Wolters Kluwer already has a strong position in the Italian tax, employment law and health, safety and environment regulations and accountancy markets with its companies IPSOA, Indicitalia, Osra, Artel, Pragma and OA Sistemi. CEDAM will be closely linked to IPSOA's business especially with regard to electronic product developments. The partnership reached will strengthen the assets of both companies and lead to a unique market position in Italy.
'The acquisition of CEDAM fits into our strategy to become the leading legal publisher in Italy', says Jean-Marc Detailleur, member of the Executive Board of Wolters Kluwer and responsible for Legal, Tax & Business Europe. 'CEDAM and IPSOA are a perfect match. CEDAM has been a highly regarded brand in legal doctrine for 100 years. IPSOA's strengths are in electronic (online and offline) products and services for professionals. The combination of the two companies makes this new partnership into a one-stop service point for all legal customers throughout Italy.'
According to the Board of Directors of CEDAM Sig. Milani and Dott. Porta, 'The partnership with Wolters Kluwer will reinforce our future prospects and combine our long history with IPSOA's technology, know-how and skills. The agreement with IPSOA is a great opportunity for future development, especially in electronic information products and services. We are convinced that both CEDAM and IPSOA will benefit a great deal from this combination. IPSOA, as member of the Wolters Kluwer group, gives us a strong base for future growth.'
During the past three years Wolters Kluwer has completed a series of strategic acquisitions in Italy, on both software and proprietary content for tax, labor and accountancy professionals. This acquisition program is focused on building a complete portfolio of products and services in its key markets in Italy.
Note for the editor
Wolters Kluwer is a multinational information services company with annual revenues (2002) of more than EUR 3.9 billion, employing almost 20,000 people in Europe, North America, and Asia Pacific. The company's core activities are Legal, Tax & Business, Health and Education. Wolters Kluwer's shares are quoted on the Euronext Amsterdam and are included in the AEX and Euronext 100 indices. The Annual General Meeting of Shareholders will take place on April 16, 2003.
Announcements financial results: Trading update 1st quarter: May 14, 2003 Figures first-half 2003: August 12, 2003 Trading update 3rd quarter November 12, 2003