Reed Elsevier and Thomson Acquire Harcourt General

Anglo-Dutch publisher Reed Elsevier recently completed its acquisition of publisher Harcourt General. The US$4.5 billion deal, originally announced last October, makes Reed Elsevier the world’s leading publisher of medical and scientific journals. As part of the deal, Reed Elsevier sold some of Harcourt’s professional publications and higher education activities to Thomson Corporation for US$2.06 billion.

Fraser Milner Casgrain LLP acted as special Canadian counsel to Reed Elsevier with a team consisting of John Langs and Tracey Patel. Stikeman Elliott acted as special Canadian counsel to Harcourt General with a team consisting of John Leopold, Robert Hogan (tax) and William Rosenberg. Torys acted as Canadian counsel to Thomson, with a team that included Michael Siltala, Paul Noble, Jay Holsten (competition) and Jim Welkoff (tax).