Acquisition

Reed Elsevier PLC
11 July 2003





                                                                    11 July 2003


           Issued on behalf of Reed Elsevier PLC and Reed Elsevier NV

                   Reed Elsevier to acquire Applied Discovery


Reed Elsevier Group plc today announced that its global legal division,
LexisNexis, has entered into a definitive agreement to buy Applied Discovery
Inc. (ADI).  ADI is the leading provider in the US of electronic discovery
services for law firms, large corporations and government agencies.  These
services enable online retrieval and review of documents required in the
discovery phase of litigation, antitrust reviews and government investigations.


The ADI business will expand both LexisNexis' presence in the strongly growing
electronic discovery market and broaden the range of its services to  US
litigators.  ADI will become part of the LexisNexis North American Legal Market
division.

                                    - Ends -


For further information please contact:

Catherine May, Reed Elsevier, tel [phone]


Notes to editors


Reed Elsevier Group plc


Reed Elsevier Group plc is a world leading publisher and information provider.
It is owned equally by its two parent companies, Reed Elsevier PLC and Reed
Elsevier NV.  The parent companies are listed on the London, Amsterdam and New
York Stock Exchanges, under the following ticker symbols: London: REL; Amsterdam
: REN; New York: RUK and ENL.  In 2002, Reed Elsevier made adjusted profit
before taxation of £927 million (€1,474 million) on turnover of £5,020 million
(€7,982 million).  The group employs 36,000 people, including approximately
22,000 in North America. Operating in the scientific, legal, educational and
business-to-business sectors, Reed Elsevier provides high value and flexible
information solutions to professional end users, with increasing emphasis on
internet delivery.


For further information, please visit the company website www.reedelsevier.com.


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