So says Reuters news arm in this report…
Here’s the report? .. http://www.reuters.com/article/2011/03/08/us-wolterskluwer-idUSTRE72729U20110308
Dutch publisher Wolters Kluwer’s chief executive is interested in rival Thomson Reuters’s Scandinavian legal and tax & accounting businesses, which are up for sale.
Thomson Reuters said last month it planned to sell its legal education business BARBRI, as well as its Scandinavian legal and tax & accounting businesses. No value was given for the businesses, which have combined revenue of $160 million.
Wolters Kluwer’s main rivals are Dutch publisher Reed Elsevier and Thomson Reuters.
“We are always interested in Europe. That’s one of our key markets … We have a very good business in Scandinavia. It would depend on what the value of the asset would be,” Wolters Kluwer’s chief executive, Nancy McKinstry, told Reuters.
Wolters Kluwer, whose specialized publications are used by doctors, lawyers, bankers and accountants, was not interested in BARBRI, McKinstry said.
David Crundwell, a spokesman for Thomson Reuters, declined to comment. The company had previously said that it expected both deals to close in the first half of this year.
Wolters last month announced a 100-million-euro share buyback programme thanks to “strong cash flow generation” and was looking for bolt-on acquisitions, in addition to growing the business organically, McKinstry said.
“Where we have targeted for those bolt-ons is clearly in our software parts of our businesses whether that is in tax, or health or legal in Asia, where we have a good business but continue to build that out,” she added.
For its health information products, Wolters Kluwer was looking for takeovers in the area of clinical decision support, she said.
McKinstry reiterated her comments last month that she expected earnings growth this year as the group’s efforts to move publications online begin to bear fruit, and clients were increasingly receiving information on their smartphones and computers.
Wolters Kluwer, which also offers products for Apple’s
iPhone and iPad tablet computer, was not worried about the U.S. computer and phone maker’s online subscription model, which plans to take a 30 percent cut on all revenue through Apple’s App Store.
“All of the publishers and information providers are dealing with the same issue. I think it will all get sorted out. What you see because these markets are changing so quickly it’s not just Apple in the game but Google as well. Microsoft will jump in,” she said.
“We expect that we will have different venues or different distribution opportunities. Not just with Apple but with others,” said McKinstry, adding that sales offered on Apple products were “not material.”
