Acquisition

Pearson PLC
14 June 2000


PEARSON TELEVISION ACQUIRES TALKBACK FOR £62 MILLION

Pearson Television, Pearson plc's television production business, has acquired
TalkBack Productions, for £62 million.

TalkBack Productions, which was founded in 1981, is one of the best known
producers in the UK independent sector and has won a number of prestigious
awards for its programmes. Current successes include Da Ali G Show, House
Doctor, Shooting The Past, Smack The Pony and They Think It's All Over. Its
principal customers are Channel Four and BBC2.

Pearson Television has some 160 television programmes in production in 35
countries around the world, producing over 6,000 hours of original programming
every year. It sells from its library of some 17,500 hours of programming to
over 100 territories. It owns one of the largest selections of game show
formats in the world, is the largest producer of serial dramas and makes a
wide range of entertainment programmes. It owns stakes in broadcasters in the
UK, Hungary, Spain and Australia and in Uproar.com, one of the world's leading
online entertainment sites.  

Its largest single market is the UK, where it produces for all the major
broadcasters, but its biggest customers are BBC1, ITV and Channel 5.

Richard Eyre, Chief Executive of Pearson Television said: 'TalkBack brings
creative power that complements our existing production business while taking
us in major new directions. They have a proven track record in finding and
nurturing new talent and new genres.

'Joining Pearson Television will also enable TalkBack to grow faster, as it
will now be able to supply talent, programming and formats to our worldwide
production businesses, especially as we merge with our new European partners.'

On 6 April, Pearson plc announced plans to merge Pearson Television with
CLT-Ufa to create Europe's leading integrated television broadcast and content
company. Pearson will take a 22% stake in the new company, which will be
listed on the London Stock Exchange. It is expected that the merger will be
completed later this summer.  

Pearson plc will finance the acquisition of TalkBack from within its existing
bank facilities, with the debt incurred to finance the transaction
transferring with Pearson Television on the completion of its merger with
CLT-Ufa.

In the year ending 31 March 2000, TalkBack Productions made sales of some £32
million. Mel Smith and Grif Rhys Jones, founding partners of the company, will
continue as directors, as will Managing Director, Peter Fincham.

For further information:  
John Fallon,                     Pearson plc               (0) 20 7411 2310
Roy Addison,                     Pearson Television        (0) 20 7691 6830