Reed Business All Set to Enter Indian Shores

NEW YORK, Dec. 21 /PRNewswire/ -- Reed Business, the world's largest business-to-business publisher, has agreed to partner with Infomedia India to enter the Indian B2B publishing market. Pending the Indian government's approval, the two companies will begin publishing in mid-2006. Initially, they plan to launch two or three products, and over time, grow a portfolio of magazines, online products, and conferences in a variety of vertical markets. Reed Business, which operates across five continents, is targeting the BRIC countries (Brazil, Russia, India and China) for its growth in the coming years. Its US arm, Reed Business Information-US, is known for acclaimed publications like Variety, JCK, Control Engineering and Logistics Management, and has created a similar partnership with IDG to enter the China market.

Mr. Jim Casella, Vice Chairman, Reed Business, said, "Reed Business is excited by the opportunity to enter the fast-growing Indian marketplace. We are looking to combine Reed Business Information's global brands and vertical industry expertise with the publishing capabilities and local knowledge of Infomedia to create the preeminent portfolio of B2B titles in India." Confirming that India was high on Reed's plans, he added that, "India, with its growing consumerism, a buoyant economy, and mass affluent population, has opened up a market for critical business information - a space where Reed is the acknowledged leader."

Says Mr. Prakash Iyer, Managing Director, Infomedia India Ltd., "We are delighted to be Reed's publishing partners in India. With Infomedia's local industry insights and Reed's global expertise, we are hoping to provide Indian businesses with high-quality content in magazines that become mandatory reading."

About Reed Business

Reed Business, the world's largest global business-to-business publisher, is the business-to-business division of the Reed Elsevier Group plc - a world-leading publisher and information provider operating in the science and medical, legal, education and business-to- business industry sectors. Its US-based arm, Reed Business Information, offers business professionals in the media, manufacturing, electronics, construction and retail industries more than 100 market-leading business-to-business publications, 75 Webzines and Web portals, custom publishing, directories, research and direct-marketing lists.

About Infomedia India Ltd

Infomedia is India's leading special interest and directory publishing company. A pioneer in several information products, the company has set standards with the popular Infomedia Yellow Pages (formerly Tata Press Yellow Pages) and special interest magazines like Better Photography, OVERDRIVE, AV MAX, Search, IC CHIP and Auto Monitor. In addition, Infomedia also provides integrated direct marketing service to leading corporates through Direct Edge, a leading one-stop-direct-marketing shop. It is also one of India's leading commercial printers of magazines, annual reports and publicity material. For the year ending March 2005, Infomedia clocked a turnover of 125.7 crores and PBT (before exceptional items) of Rs 16.9 crores.