8 August 1996. Reed Elsevier plc announced today that it has completed the acquisition of Tolley Publishing Company Ltd (Tolley) from United News & Media for a cash consideration of £100.5 million. Tolley supplies information and commentary for use by professional and business people in the tax, legal and business markets in the United Kingdom.

Herman Bruggink, co-Chairman of Reed Elsevier plc, said: "This acquisition is a perfect fit with our existing legal and tax publishing operations in the UK. Butterworths, the preeminent UK law publisher, has a strong position in publishing for practitioners at the specialist end of the legal and tax markets. Tolley, with its highly regarded series of single volume tax guides, is the leader in "first point of reference" publishing. The acquisition of Tolley will also enable us to provide legal information to business communities, realising synergies with both Butterworths and Reed Business Information." Tolley is headquartered in South London, where it will continue to be based under Reed Elsevier ownership. The company will be managed as part of the Legal Division of Reed Elsevier, reporting to Neville Cusworth as Chief Executive.

In the year ended 31 December 1995, Tolley 's operating profit was £4 million on sales of £17 million.

Tolley's leading tax titles include Tolley's Income Tax, Tolley's Corporation Tax and Tolley's Capital Gains Tax. Tolley was the first to enter into electronic publishing for tax practitioners with its CD-ROM TaxLink series, which was introduced in 1994 and uses Reed Elsevier's Folio infosearch software.

Tolley also publishes the leading professional journals Taxation, Pensions World and Health and Safety at Work and serves the local government market under the Charles Knight imprint. It also has a strong position in the provision of training and conference programmes for lawyers and other professionals.