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Swets Blackwell withdraws bid for divine/RoweCom

Swets Blackwell withdraws bid for divine/RoweCom

Lisse, the Netherlands - January 24, 2003 -- Swets Blackwell announced
today that it has withdrawn its bid for a potential acquisition of divine
Information Services' (dIS) global business. The decision was reached
today once it became clear to Swets Blackwell that its key conditions,
including the resolution of prepayments made by dIS customers and the
ability to offer these customers uninterrupted service, would not be met.

Swets Blackwell entered into acquisition negotiations with dIS in December
2002. Subsequent discussions were held between Swets Blackwell and major
publishers in an effort to find a solution amenable to all parties
concerned.

Steven Hartman, Swets Blackwell's Commercial Director, stated: "Despite
two months of intense discussions and preliminary due diligence, dIS and
other stakeholders have not been able to make sufficient progress for us
to ensure a clear resolution for dIS customers."

He added: "Taking into account the considerable time required for
regulatory approval - both in the US and Europe - it is highly unlikely
that a satisfactory solution can be reached. We will now focus on actively
finding solutions for those customers who are suffering the ill effects of
these very unpleasant developments in our industry."

About Swets Blackwell 

Swets Blackwell (www.swetsblackwell.com) is the world's largest
subscription agent, with offices in 22 countries on 6 continents. It
provides a wide variety of subscription management solutions for academic,
scientific, technical, medical, corporate and government libraries and
information centers worldwide. Founded in 1901, Swets Blackwell counts
among its 60,000 customers many of the world's major research libraries
and over 30% of the Fortune 500 companies. In recognition of the superior
service it provides, Swets Blackwell was granted ISO 9001:2000
accreditation.

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Swets Blackwell Media Contacts

Head Office - Lisse, the Netherlands
Sarah Kellman
Tel: +31 252 435 584
Email: press@nl.swetsblackwell.com

North America
Marybeth Montgomery
Tel: 1 (0) 856 312 2306
Email: mmontgomery@us.swetsblackwell.com

France
Marie Bourdais
Tel: +33 (0) 1 3068 4037
Email: mbourdais@fr.swetsblackwell.com

Ewen J. Galbraith, MBA, MLIS
Product Manager

Swets Blackwell
160 Ninth Avenue
P.O. Box 1459
Runnemede, NJ 08078
Tel: +800-645-6595 - Ext. 2338
Direct:  856-312-2338
Cell:  856-278-7363
Fax:  856-312-2496
Email:  egalbraith@us.swetsblackwell.com