Harcourt, the British-owned schools publisher, has fallen into hands of Pearson, the UK’s largest educational publisher, as part of a $950 million cash sale.

Reed Elsevier has sold to Pearson both Harcourt Education International, the Oxford based division with sales both in the UK, South Africa and New Zealand, and Harcourt Assessment, its Texas-based American educational testing business.

Marjorie Scardino, chief executive, of Pearson said: "'We have long admired these businesses. They bring new intellectual property, capabilities and skills to Pearson, and will enable us to accelerate our strategy of leading the personalisation of learning, both in the US and around the world. We know that their people share our commitment to education, and we look forward to welcoming them as colleagues."

The two Harcourt divisions had gross assets of $741 million Reed Elsevier's combined capital employed in the these businesses totalled $601 million. They made revenues of $524 million and operating profits of $31 million before one-off restructuring costs of $21 million in the year to end-December.

BACKGROUND

• Reed Elsevier to quit arms exhibitions

• Cinven eyes Reed assets

• Reed evolves to go with the flow

• Reed Elsevier to sell education arm after poor performance

• Pearson buys Reed text book arm for £425m

Reed sale shows faith in internet

Companies are not talking about future earnings online, they are making money from the internet now, Reed's decision expresses this

Related Internet Links

• Reed Elsevier company information

• Reed Elsevier share price chart

• Reed Elsevier forecast

A sale of Harcourt’s remaining US schools publishing business is expected to complete in the second half.

Sir Crispin Davis, Chief Executive of Reed Elsevier, said:'We are delighted to have successfully sold the Harcourt assessment and international education businesses to a good home, achieving an excellent price for our shareholders that reflects the quality of the businesses. The Harcourt sale process is off to a good start.'

The sale of Harcourt will leave Reed Elsevier with three similarly-sized divisions in Elsevier (scientific and medical), Lexis Nexis (legal and risk) and Reed Business (trade magazines and exhibitions).

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