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AMSTERDAM, Netherlands (Reuter) - Anglo-Dutch publishing group Reed-Elsevier said Wednesday it formed a joint venture with Times Mirror Co. to own and operate Shepard's, a U.S. legal citation service.
Reed Elsevier and Times Mirror said on July 3 they agreed to set up the 50-50 venture, and on Oct. 16 completed the first step in the deal when Times Mirror bought Shepard's from McGraw-Hill in exchange for the Times Mirror Higher Educational Group.
"As a result of this transaction, Matthew Bender, Shepard's and Lexis-Nexis are much better positioned to compete in the legal marketplace and pursue new joint opportunities for growth," said Mark Willes, Times Mirror's chairman.
Lexis-Nexis is a Reed Elsevier unit providing full-text online information services in the legal, news, business and government areas. Matthew Bender is Times Mirror's legal publisher.
Reed Elsevier and Times Mirror have a long-term cross-licence agreement to offer Matthew Bender publications online through the LEXIS database service and to provide a significant portion of the LEXIS caselaw database through Matthew Bender's print and CD-ROM products.
Times Mirror's stock rose 62.5 cents to $52.375 on the New York Stock Exchange in late morning trading.