1 August 2013

Reed Elsevier today sold RBI Italy, a subsidiary of Reed Business Information, to BVMultimedia, a company owned by Roberto Briglia and Gianni Vallardi.

RBI Italy is one of the country's most important publishing and business to business services companies. It generates annual sales in excess of €18m in three business areas. These include publishing, with 13 market leading magazines and their respective websites; Telemat, the division which monitors 70,000 Italian public tenders; and Mimesi, which provides printed and digital press review services and advanced analysis of reputation on the internet. RBI employs about 170 people in offices of Milan, Parma and Bassano del Grappa.

Peter de Monnink, CEO of Reed Business Information International, said: "We are delighted to have found the best owners to ensure the continuity and development of RBI Italy. We thank the managers and employees of RBI Italy for all they have achieved."

Mr Briglia and Mr Vallardi said in an email addressed to all employees: "It is our intention to rapidly create the conditions for the further development of the business, even if we are fully aware of the great difficulties that the various markets in which we operate are experiencing. We are confident that the skills, experience and spirit of initiative showed by RBI in the past will be a good starting point to overcome any obstacle."
Starting from today, RBI Italy will be renamed DBInformation.

BVMultimedia was advised by Siano Botte Caresano and by GPAV. Reed Elsevier was advised by Altium Capital and Freshfields Bruckhaus Deringer.

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Enquiries

Jane Baldwin (Media)
Head of communications, Reed Business Information
 T: +44 (0)20 8652 8012

Paul Abrahams (Media)
Head of corporate communications, Reed Elsevier
Tel : +44 20 7166 5724

Colin Tennant (Investors)
Head of investor relations, Reed Elsevier
Tel: +44 (0) 20 7166 5751

Notes to editors

About Reed Business Information

Reed Business Information brings market leading brands to an audience of millions of decision makers worldwide through its multi-platform media of data services, online lead generation services, community websites, magazines and events. Reed Business Information is part of Reed Elsevier, a world leading provider of professional information solutions to the science, medical, legal, risk management, and business to business sectors.


About Reed Elsevier

Reed Elsevier Group plc is a world leading provider of professional information solutions. The group employs approximately 30,000 people of whom half are in North America. Reed Elsevier Group PLC is owned equally by two parent companies, Reed Elsevier PLC and Reed Elsevier NV; the combined market capitalisation of the two parent companies is approximately £18bn/€21bn. Their shares are traded on the London, Amsterdam and New York Stock Exchanges using the following ticker symbols: London: REL; Amsterdam: REN; New York: RUK and ENL.

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