UK Reviewing Reed Elsevier proposed acquistion of Harcourt

["Hamaker, Chuck" <cahamake@email.uncc.edu>]

http://www.competition-commission.gov.uk/pressreleases/05-01.htm

5/01 

22 February 2001

REED ELSEVIER/HARCOURT GENERAL

COMPETITION COMMISSION SEEKS EVIDENCE

Kim Howells, Competition and Consumer Affairs Minister, has asked the
Competition Commission to look into the proposed acquisition of Harcourt
General Inc by Reed Elsevier Inc.

The Commission will look at competition concerns relating to the market
power the merged companies would have in scientific, technical and medical
journals, and will consider whether the proposed acquisition may be
expected to operate against the public interest. The Commission will
report to the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry by 28 May 2001.
The report will be published later.

This inquiry is being undertaken by a group of four Commission members.
The Chairman is Arthur Pryor, a former DTI Civil Servant, who is now a
consultant on competition policy and government affairs. The other members
are Anthony Clothier, an independent consultant specialising in
privatisation and restructuring in Eastern Europe, Dame Helena Shovelton,
the Chair of the Audit Commission, and David Stark, a Chartered Engineer
and retired company director.

Mr Arthur Pryor...has been a member of the editorial board of World
Competition, published by Kluwer, for the last eight months or so. Mr
Pryor has received no remuneration for these services. He has now resigned
from the editorial board...

For the list of those who have provided evidence:
http://www.competition-commission.gov.uk/inquiries/reedevid.htm

It includes 
   SCONUL (Standing Conference of
   National and University Libraries)

For a response from CURL(Consortium of University Research Libraries) by
Chris Bailey Executive Secretary of the group-to the proposed merger-9
March 2001- see: http://www.curl.ac.uk/about/Responses.html

Note especially CURL members table that lists: total combined number of
Reed & Harcourt titles as a percentage of all titles they subscribe to, as
a percentage of their total subscriptions... expenditure on Reed &
Harcourt titles as a percentage of their total journals expenditure.
Membership of CURL:The full members of CURL include the largest research
libraries in the UK higher education sector:

Questions asked by the Competition Committee are listed at :
http://www.competition-commission.gov.uk/pressreleases/13-01.htm

Some very specific questions are raised regarding impact of the proposed
merger. For full list see url above, but here's a sample from the web
page:

1.  The appropriate definition of the economic markets affected by the
proposed merger, in particular:

	a) whether the global market is the relevant one in all cases, or
	b) whether, for some products, the geographical market is different;
	c) whether pricing is global or differentiated regionally; and 
		i)  if regionally, where pricing decisions are taken;
	d) whether there is a single market for all types of STM journals; or 
		i)  whether they are part of a larger market, which also
		    includes other STM publications such as
		    magazines and books; or
		ii) whether there are separate markets (or a distinct
		    segment of a market) for journals relating to
		    separate subject areas or academic disciplines
		    within the STM sector; or
		iii)whether journals produced by commercial publishers
		    are in a separate market (or market segment) from
		    those produced by non-commercial bodies, such as
		    learned societies; or
		iv) whether individual journals constitute distinct
		    markets in themselves; and 
	e) whether there is a single market for journal publishing
	   services or for the other products anD services affected by the
	   proposed merger, or 
		i)  whether they too should be divided into separate
		    markets (or distinct segments of a market); 
	f) whether electronic publishing should be regarded as a
	   separate market; and
	g) whether there is scope for substitution at the boundaries
	   of any of the markets identified. 


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