Merger of Springer Science+Business Media and Kluwer Academic Publishers to Begin Spring 2004.

Business Editors

BERLIN & DORDRECHT, The Netherlands--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Sept. 16, 2003

Transaction of BertelsmannSpringer legally completes today / As of the

Frankfurt Bookfair 2003 to be renamed Springer Science+Business Media

The announced merger of Springer Science+Business Media and Kluwer Academic Publishers, owned by leading European private equity houses Cinven and Candover, will commence in the spring of 2004. Derk Haank, who will take on the role of CEO effective February 1, 2004, will head the new company. Until that time, both publishing groups will continue to operate as separate companies and under their own names. The merger will create the second largest professional publisher in the fields of science, technology and medicine (STM) worldwide.

In August, Candover and Cinven received approval from the US Department of Justice and European Commission for the acquisition of BertelsmannSpringer and the transaction legally completed today, September 16, 2003. At the Frankfurt Book Fair, the publishing group BertelsmannSpringer will present itself under its new name, Springer Science+Business Media (October 8, 2003). Cinven and Candover had already acquired Kluwer Academic Publishers in January 2003. Together, the companies will publish 1,350 magazines and more than 5,000 book titles each year, with revenues of about 880 million euros.

"Through the merger of Kluwer Academic Publishers and Springer Science+Business Media we will strengthen our market position in editorial publishing and sales and thus be better equipped to meet the tough competition in this business. With our new owners, we will receive the necessary financial and strategic support that is needed for further growth and quality leadership," stated Dr. Dietrich Gotze, member of the management board at Springer Science+Business Media. He also emphasized that Kluwer Academic Publishers is an innovative scientific publishing house and, together with the Springer publishing group, will set new standards in electronic publishing.

Peter Hendriks, CEO at Kluwer Academic Publishers, commented, "We are delighted about the upcoming merger, and are convinced that together we will drive our businesses forward. Our portfolios are compatible and will complement each other in an ideal way. As a strong, new enterprise, it will be possible to offer our worldwide customers even better information and services. We will especially profit from the Springer publishing group's extensive experience in the B2B segment and the practice-oriented professional books. Until the merger takes effect, Kluwer's focus naturally remains on serving our customers with the quality they are accustomed to."

BertelsmannSpringer / Springer Science +Business Media is one of the world's leading publishing groups for scientific and specialist literature and is the market leader in Germany, far ahead of its competitors. The group owns 70 publishing companies and publishes 700 journals and around 4,000 new book titles each year. Its key subjects include science, medicine, economics, engineering, architecture, construction and transport. Total sales reached 731 million euros in the year to December 2002. The company has 5,200 employees in 16 countries. On April 1, 2003, Candover Partners Ltd and Cinven Ltd, two of the leading providers of equity for European buyouts, acquired the specialist publishing group, which before was a division of Bertelsmann AG. www.bertelsmannspringer.de.

Kluwer Academic Publishers (KAP) is a leading publisher of scientific information, specializing in numerous fields within science, technology, medicine, humanities and social sciences. KAP provides high quality online products and services and annually publishes 650 journals and 1200 books featuring leading authors and researchers from around the world. Located in Dordrecht, Boston, New York and London, the company has 550 employees. Turnover in 2002 was 151 million euros. The company was acquired by Candover and Cinven in January 2003. For more information on Kluwer, visit www.wkap.com.