Acquisition

Informa Group PLC
22 January 2001

           Informa Group acquires US financial information provider



Informa Group Plc announced today that it has agreed to acquire MCM Group Inc.
('MCM'), headquartered in New York and a specialist provider of real time
analysis delivered electronically to financial institutions worldwide. The
consideration is $44.9 million (£30.5 million), adjusted for net working
capital at completion, payable in cash. The transaction is expected to
complete in February 2001.

In the year to 30 June 2000, the Company made an operating profit of $5.6
million (£3.8 million) before goodwill amortisation on revenues of $45.0
million (£30.6 million). Profit before tax was $6.0 million (£4.1 million)
including $1.2 million (£0.8 million) of non continuing net interest
receivable relating to certain assets and liabilities that do not form part of
this transaction. Net assets at 30 June 2000 (excluding the assets and
liabilities not to be acquired by Informa) were $4.9 million (£3.3 million).

Peter Rigby, chairman of Informa Group plc, commented:

'We welcome the MCM team to the Informa Group. The business is in one of our
core markets, providing value added information and analysis to business
customers on a subscription basis. We see the financial information business
sector as one where there are exciting business opportunities and this
acquisition helps increase our presence in this area. Last year we acquired
another financial information business in the USA, Informa Research Services.
We are also pleased to be increasing our presence in the USA where there
remain significant business opportunities.'

Kenneth B. Bohlin, chief executive officer of Informa Financial Information,
said:

'We are delighted to bring MCM into Informa Financial Information, where it
will strengthen Informa's position as a leading provider of essential
information to the world's financial market participants. We believe that
MCM's proven product offerings and established customer base will be
well-positioned alongside our other existing assets, providing considerable
growth opportunities for both.'



For further information

Informa Group - 020 7453 2222

Peter Rigby, Chairman
David Gilbertson, Chief Executive
Jim Wilkinson, Finance Director



The Maitland Consultancy - 020 7379 5151

Fiona Piper



Note to editors

MCM provides comprehensive analysis of the fixed income, equity and currency
markets worldwide through eleven subscription services including
CorporateWatch and CurrencyWatch. Newly launched services include Structured
FinanceWatch, BondScan, Emerging MarketsWatch and AsiaWatch. Almost 2,000
financial institutions in 57 countries subscribe to MCM's services and over
25,000 financial professionals use MCM's analysis throughout the day in their
buy/sell decision process. MCM services are distributed primarily through
Reuters, Bloomberg and Bridge Telerate networks. eMCMWatch.com, an Internet
version which is in the final stages of development, will enable customers to
access MCM information via the medium which is most convenient for them.
Additional opportunities for eMCMWatch.com have been identified in markets
that do not have access to the proprietary networks.

In addition to their Wall Street headquarters, MCM has offices in London,
Paris, Tokyo, Singapore and Hong Kong. Following completion of the
transaction, MCM will become part of Informa Financial Information, Inc. which
provides information and analysis to various industry sub-sectors, including
banking, insurance, brokerage, mutual funds and investment management.