Wolters Kluwer buys majority stake in Russian publisher.

Wolters Kluwer Legal, Tax & Regulatory Europe (London), a unit of Wolters Kluwer (Amsterdam), has agreed to acquire a 55% ownership stake in the International Centre for Financial and Economic Development (ICFED; Moscow), a professional publisher specializing in information services for human resources, tax and accounting professionals. Wolters Kluwer has the right to acquire the remaining 45% stake "over time." No other terms were given. The deal is subject to the approval of Russian anti-trust authorities.

Wolters said that ICFED (known in the Russian language as MCFR) holds leading positions in journals, loose-leafs, books and education and training for human resources, tax, accounting, legal, pharmaceutical, education and public administration professionals throughout Russia. Over the past two years, ICFED has expanded into Ukraine, Kazakhstan, Uzbekistan and Azerbaijan, all members of the CIS, and launched versions of their products customized for national markets. The company also produces a variety of seminars and conferences. It was established in 1991 and has approximately 800 employees.

The acquired company publishes 27 journals, which have a combined total of over 250,000 subscribers, in the fields of health, education and culture, labor safety, and business. Journal titles include "Head Nurse," "New Pharmacy," "Statutory Acts on Labour Safety," "Modern Office" and "Railway Economics." ICFED's consulting unit provides auditing and consulting services for a range of business entities and organizations.

Wolters Kluwer Legal, Tax & Regulatory Europe CEO Rolv Eide said "we see important potential in emerging markets such as Russia as significant growth in the number of professionals continues...this joint venture enables us to expand our global footprint and product offering to better serve our customers in Eastern Europe."