Thomson Purchases BIOSIS

[Ann Okerson <ann.okerson@yale.edu>]

>From the Philadelphia Inquirer, Tuesday, January 24, 2004

http://www.philly.com/mld/philly/business/7695484.htm

____________


Thomson buys Biosis publishing
Proceeds in the sale of assets of the Philadelphia-based nonprofit
research service will go to a new foundation.

By Linda Loyd
Inquirer Staff Writer

Thomson Corp. said yesterday that it had acquired the publishing assets of
Philadelphia-based Biological Abstracts Inc. and Biosis, a life-sciences
indexing service.

Financial terms of the deal, which closed Friday, were not disclosed.

The nonprofit Biosis' 125 employees, at 20th and Market Streets, and 40
other employees in York, England, now work for Thomson ISI, a business
unit of Thomson Scientific & Healthcare, based in Philadelphia.

Biosis' employees, now in leased space at Two Commerce Square, will move
eventually to Thomson offices at 35th and Market Streets, said Michael
Tansey, president and chief executive officer of Thomson Scientific.

"Nobody lost their jobs," he said.

Because the transaction involved a for-profit company buying a nonprofit,
proceeds from the sale of Biosis' publishing assets will go to a new
foundation, the J.R.S. Foundation, run by Biosis' former board of trustees
to "further the work of biological scientists," said Joel Baron, an
adviser to the former Biosis board.

"The foundation money could be used for funding life-science research,
supporting the work of researchers in Third World countries, or to support
other foundations," Baron said. "A final determination has not been made."

Biosis, which was founded in 1926, produces databases and services for
life-sciences research, including Biological Abstracts, Biosis Previews
and Zoological Record, which is published jointly with the Zoological
Society of London. Thomson said Biosis was the world's largest abstracting
and indexing service.

Toronto-based Thomson, with $7.8 billion in revenue in 2002, is a
publisher of specialized information for businesses, with more than 20
million users in the fields of law, tax, accounting, financial services,
higher education, reference information, corporate training, scientific
research, and health care. Thomson's products range from Westlaw legal
databases and the Physicians' Desk Reference to university textbooks.

Thomson ISI, which was founded in Philadelphia in 1958 as the Institute
for Scientific Information, provides Web-based information to researchers,
students and businesses worldwide.

Biosis announced in May that it was seeking a partner to ensure that
researchers, educators, students and others would have continued
affordable access to biological research. In October, Biosis said it was
in final negotiations with Thomson.


--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Contact staff writer Linda Loyd at 215-854-2831 or lloyd@phillynews.com.

Copyright 2004 Philadelphia Inquirer