| Buyer | Seller | Comments | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1. | Thomas H. Lee & Co., The Blackstone Group, and Bain Capital | Vivendi Universal | $1.66 billion plus assumption of $380MM in debt for Houghton Mifflin; Educational and children's book publisher; EBITDA $300MM |
| 2. | Investima 10 (Natexis Banques Populaires, France) | Vivendi Universal | $1.25 billion for Vivendi Universal Publishing; Acquisition includes VUP's general literature, reference and educational publishing units, excluding Houghton Mifflin |
| 3. | Reader's Digest Association | Reiman Publications | $760MM; Publisher of cooking, gardening, country lifestyle and nostalgia magazines and books; Rev. $300MM, EBITDA $70MM |
| 4. | Cinven Ltd. (U.K.) and Candover Partners Ltd. (U.K.) | Wolters Kluwer | $583MM for Kluwer Academic Publishers; Publishes 675 scientific journals; Rev. $241MM |
| 5. | American Media, Inc. | Weider Publications, Inc. | $350MM for this publisher of health and fitness magazines, including Shape, Flex, and Muscle & Fitness |
| 6. | Socpresse (France) |
Vivendi Universal | $287.2MM for Vivendi's consumer press division, including the Express-Expansion magazine group and the Comareg free-press unit |
| 7. | U.S. Investigations Services, Inc. | The Official Information Company (VS&A Communications Partners) | $245MM for Total Information Services, Inc.; Pre-employment screening services |
| 8. | Moody's Corp. | KMV | $210MM; Risk management software and other services for banks, insurance companies, asset managers and investment banks; Est. rev $60MM |
| 9. | Cardinal Health, Inc. | Boron, LePore & Associates, Inc. | $200MM; Medical education products and solutions for the healthcare industry |
| 10. | VNU World Directories | Golden Pages Ltd. (Ireland) | $194MM for the remaining 63% stake it did not already own; Publisher of directories in traditional and electronic forms |
