Harcourt General Acquires Knowledge Communication, Inc.

Posted on June 1, 1999

Harcourt General, Inc. has announced that its wholly owned publishing and educational services subsidiary, Harcourt, Inc., has acquired Knowledge Communication, Inc. (KCI). KCI's library of course titles, which covers professional development topics such as managing information, diversity, negotiation, conflict resolution and employee motivation, is offered through corporate intranets, the Internet and multimedia CD-ROMs. There currently are 25 titles in that library, and KCI plans to expand that figure to 250 courses by the end of 2001.

``As part of Harcourt, Inc.'s mission to be one of the world's pre-eminent `anytime, anywhere' learning companies, we recognize the growing importance of technology-based learning,'' said Brian J. Knez, co-chief executive officer of Harcourt, Inc. ``The multi-billion dollar worldwide technology-based training market is growing very rapidly. The Internet segment of that market alone is estimated to grow to $1 billion by 2001 from no revenues at all just three short years ago. Together with Harcourt's existing sales and marketing strengths, Knowledge Communication's superior products and software development expertise position us to be a leader in that market.''

The KCI acquisition is one of several Internet-related moves announced recently by Harcourt, Inc. In early spring, the company announced that its new interactive, commerce-enabled website, harcourt.com, will offer thousands of educational and training products to parents, teachers and students by the fall of 1999. In April, Harcourt, Inc. formed a strategic partnership with the Family Education Network. As part of that partnership, Harcourt, Inc. acquired an equity interest in FEN, which features Harcourt, Inc.'s products and services throughout its website. Harcourt, Inc. is also developing plans to offer accredited high school and higher education courses over the Internet.