Acquisition

Bloomsbury Publishing PLC
20 May 2002



           Bloomsbury Publishing Plc ('Bloomsbury' or the 'Company')
                      Acquisition of Whitaker's Almanack -
         further step towards becoming one of world's leading suppliers
                   of electronic and print reference material


London, 20 May 2002: Bloomsbury is pleased to announce the acquisition, through
its subsidiary, A & C Black, of Whitaker's Almanack for a cash consideration of
£750,000, from The Stationery Office Limited. Whitaker's Almanack, which was
first published in 1868 by Joseph Whitaker, is one of the UK's best-known
reference brands.

Since the acquisition of A & C Black, the publisher of Who's Who, in July 2000,
Bloomsbury has considerably strengthened its portfolio of classic reference
titles, using its electronic and content management skills to update well-known
brands and maximise their long-term revenue-generating capabilities.  In
addition to transferring the content of Who's Who into a full electronic
database, subsequently licensed to Bloomberg LP, the leading provider of global
business information, Bloomsbury has already compiled two other major databases
with international partners.  The Microsoft Encarta World English Dictionary was
first published in both electronic and print formats in 1999, whilst the English
Language Teaching Database was launched in March 2002 in partnership with
Macmillan Education.  Bloomsbury's world-wide electronic reference team is
currently compiling the Business: The Ultimate Resource database, which will be
published worldwide later this year following the deal announced last year with
the US publishing house, Perseus.

Nigel Newton, Chief Executive of Bloomsbury, said:

'The acquisition of Whitaker's Almanack and its associated titles is a
significant addition to our existing reference portfolio, complementing the
classic texts already published by A & C Black, such as Who's Who and Black's
Medical Dictionary. There is potential for future development of the Whitaker's
brand for print and electronic products, demonstrating the benefits to be
achieved by combining Bloomsbury's electronic reference skills and A & C Black's
reputation for authoritative reference publishing.'

In the context of recent speculation about the timing of the next Harry Potter,
we would like to clarify that our budget for the current financial year does not
include a contribution from the fifth Harry Potter novel.  On the basis of good
results in the current financial year to date, the Company is confident that it
will achieve its budgeted profits for the year ending 31st December 2002.


Ends


Contact:

Bloomsbury
Jill Coleman (MD, A & C Black)        020 7494 2111

Impact Consultancy
Simon Forrest / Kirsty Black          020 7479 4770



About Whitaker's Almanack

First published in 1868, twenty years after the first edition of Who's Who,
Whitaker's Almanack was founded by Joseph Whitaker, publisher and part time
editor of The Gentleman's Magazine.  To help with his work, he compiled a book
of newspaper cuttings, extracts from government statistics, astronomical charts,
calendars and anniversaries.  This source material became the basis of
Whitaker's Almanack, which was an instant success, subscribing 36,000 copies
before publication.  Since then, it has been updated annually.


About Bloomsbury

Bloomsbury Publishing is one of Europe's leading independent publishing houses,
established in 1986.  It has built a strong reputation in the fields of adult
and children's fiction and electronic reference.  The company was voted '
Publisher of the Year' in both 2000 and 2001.  A&C Black Publishers Ltd is a
wholly owned subsidiary of Bloomsbury Publishing Plc, specialising in children's
educational, specialist non-fiction and reference publishing.

www.bloomsbury-ir.co.uk


                      This information is provided by RNS
            The company news service from the London Stock Exchange