LONDON-BASED INFORMATION PUBLISHER ACQUIRED BY GALE.

Graham & Whiteside, the London-based publisher of company information, has been acquired by The Gale Group, Farmington Hills, Mich., an electronic and reference publisher serving library, academic, educational and corporate markets worldwide. Terms of the acquisition were not disclosed.

Graham & Whiteside is best known for its widely acclaimed "Major Companies of the World" reference series. Available in both electronic and print formats, the database contains reports on more than 80,000 companies. The company also rents its company and executive lists to direct marketers across Europe and North America. "Gale has had a close relationship with Graham & Whiteside for 20 years as distributor of the Major Companies series. To us, this new relationship is just a natural next step and an ideal way to build on the synergy between the Gale and Graham & Whiteside databases," said Dedria Bryfonski, president of The Gale Group's Library Education Group. "We're excited about their plans for growing the business and will support them with resources."

She also noted that Graham & Whiteside will operate as an independent unit within The Gale Group in the U.K., maintaining their staff of experts on world regional business.

Said Alastair Graham, co-founder and managing director of Graham & Whiteside: "Our willingness to be acquired by Gale reflects our confidence in them as a world leader, and the recognition that independent companies in the information industry increasingly will be at a disadvantage. Our buyers want one-stop shopping, and joining Gale will help us successfully meet that demand."

ABOUT THE GALE GROUP The Gale Group is one of the world's preeminent publishers of academic, educational, and business research serving libraries, educational institutions, and businesses in all major international markets. Its hundreds of directories, reference materials, online services, and educational, academic and business information products are available in CD-ROM, microfilm, print, and online formats. The company is among the most successful publishers delivering subscription-based information services through the World Wide Web.

The Gale Group was formed in September 1998 with the merger of Gale Research, Information Access Company and Primary Source Media. Other companies under The Gale Group umbrella include Graham and Whiteside, U X L, The Taft Group, St. James Press, and Visible Ink Press.

The company is a subsidiary of Thomson Business Information, a major operating entity of The Thomson Corporation that is composed of leading professional information businesses in library and business reference, scientific, and other vertical markets worldwide. With annual revenues approaching US$6 billion, The Thomson Corporation (TTC) is one of the world's leading information and publishing companies. TTC's common shares are traded on the Toronto, Montreal, and London stock exchanges. For more information, visit TTC's Internet site at www.thomcorp.com For more information, call 650-378-5282.