Thomson purchases information holdings; seeks buyer for media group.

The Thomson Corp. (Stamford, CT) has signed a definitive agreement to acquire Information Holdings, Inc. (IHI; White Plains, NY), a provider of intellectual property products and services, including IP research, management, licensing and registration.

Under terms of the deal, Thomson Scientific & Healthcare (TS&H; Stamford, CT) will acquire all of the outstanding common stock of IHI for $28 per share in cash, or approximately $441 million, net of cash and investments currently held by IHI. The stock closed at $26.44 per share the last business day before the announcement of the deal. The IHI Board of Directors has approved the deal. IHI was represented by Morgan Stanley (New York) while Thomson was represented by Bear Stearns (New York).

IHI had 2003 revenues of $81.4 million, up 4.4% from the $78 million reported in 2003. The company had 2003 net income of $31.2 million compared to a loss of $13.7 million in 2002. For the first quarter ending March 31, 3002, IHI had revenues of $24.6 million compared to first quarter 2003 revenues of $19.7 million. Net income went from $1.1 million in 2003 to $3.2 million in the quarter this year.

IHI units include: Micropatent, a company that includes the trademark.com and Aurigin divisons and is a distributor of patent and trademark information; Aureka, a unit that offers tools for analytical and visualization capabilities for patent users; Master Data Center, a company that offers IP management software and payment services for corporations and private institutions; and, Liquent, a division that provides value-added regulatory software and related services, including the IDRAC database, for the process of regulatory filings in the life sciences and pharmaceutical markets.

Related TS&H products and services include Web of Science, a research Journal database, Derwent World Patents Index, MicroMedex, Medstate and Current Drugs database.

Also, Thomson said it is seeking a buyer for the remainder of Its Thomson Media market group. The group produces magazines, conferences and related products for the banking, financial services and related technology markets. Properties to be sold include: American Banker, a daily business newspaper for banking and financial services executives; The Bond Buyer, a daily newspaper for professionals in the municipal bond industry, including underwriters, issuers, investors and rating agencies; National Mortgage News, a weekly for the entire mortgage Industry, including bankers, savings institutions, credit unions, insurance companies and financial firms; and, Investment Dealers' Digest, a weekly publication that covers Wall Street and the capital markets.

Other properties to be sold include: Financial Planning, a monthly magazine for bankers, brokers, insurance agents and accountants involved in financial planning; DM Review, a monthly magazine covering data warehousing and business intelligence issues; Accounting Today, a news magazine published 24 times a year for the nation's tax and accounting community; Accounting Technology, a monthly magazine covering the convergence of accounting and technology; and, Practical Accountant, a monthly, technical magazine for "growth-minded" local and regional tax and accounting firms.

Thomson said the assets had combined 2003 revenues of $170 million and has retained Morgan Stanley to handle the sale. Thomson said the businesses to be sold "do hot provide the type of synergies that strengthen the core electronic information businesses within Thomson." Thomson had originally placed the assets for sale in early 2001 but withdrew the offer after deciding valuations were too low.