Wolters Kluwer announced today that on November 21, 2001 the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) in the United States stated that the Hearst Corporation (New York City, United States) had tentatively agreed to divest Medi-Span, a drug-database company, to Lippincott, Williams & Wilkins (Philadelphia, United States), a subsidiary of Wolters Kluwer. The Hearst Corporation has to meet strictly regulatory demands of the FTC, however. The divestment would be part of a proposed settlement of anti-trust charges brought against Hearst by the FTC. The discussions between Wolters Kluwer and Hearst concerning a possible acquisition of Medi-Span are ongoing. The timing of any ultimate acquisition will depend on regulatory clearance for the transaction in the United States. At present there is no certainty that the transaction will be completed, or any indication of the terms on which the transaction may ultimately take place.
Medi-Span, with annual sales of approximately EUR 28 million, provides electronic drug data and clinical information that is fully integrated into the business systems software at more than 20,000 pharmacies, 2,000 hospitals, and numerous health insurers and physicians' offices. Medi-Span's drug database includes more than 100 elements for all prescription and over the counter products sold in the United States, including details on dosages, strengths, ingredients, pricing data, and product coding. Additional modules cross check for drug interactions, allergic reactions, dosage errors, and other patient specific factors. The database is continuously updated to reflect new research findings, changes in government recommendations or other changes in drug status.
Note for the editor: Wolters Kluwer is a multinational information services company with annual sales of approximately EUR 3.7 billion, employing approximately 19,000 people in Europe, North America and Asia Pacific. The company's core activities are Legal, Tax & Business, International Health & Science, and Education. The Wolters Kluwer shares are quoted on the Euronext Amsterdam. The financial results for the year 2001 will be announced on March 19, 2002.