WHSmiths Publishing Interests

Smith WH PLC
27 March 2003

27 March 2003

WH Smith PLC ('WHSmith')
WHSmith's Publishing Interests

On 13 March 2003, WHSmith and Cinven Ltd. ('Cinven') confirmed that they had
expressed an interest in acquiring AOL Time Warner Book Group Inc.  The
preliminary discussions have now come to an end and neither WHSmith nor Cinven
will be pursuing this further.

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Enquiries

WH Smith PLC
Mark Boyle                 Investor Relations                  [phone]
Louise Evans               Media Relations                     [phone]




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