Bell & Howell Becomes ProQuest Company

Posted on June 6, 2001

The 94-year-old Bell & Howell Company is changing its name to the ProQuest Company (NYSE: PQE - news). ProQuest Company is composed of the companies formerly known as Bell & Howell Information and Learning and Bell & Howell Publishing Services and is led by Jim Roemer, who had been Bell & Howell's chairman, president and CEO. Its 2000 sales for continuing operations were $374.3 million. To create ProQuest Company and focus on elearning and epublishing, Bell & Howell has sold or is selling its mail and messaging technologies and imaging businesses.

``We believe the name ProQuest resonates with customers across all markets we serve. That's because it has been strongly associated with innovative, high-quality electronic resources. Under the ProQuest name, we will continue our commitment to serving the 'quest' for valuable information by automotive and powersports dealers and manufacturers, libraries, educational institutions, distance learners and other customers,'' Roemer said. ``And taking full advantage of our technology, content and market expertise, we'll continue to explore extensions and new ventures beyond our traditional businesses.''

Since the early 1990s, the name ProQuest has been applied to a suite of electronic databases serving the library and educational community. The ProQuest online service reaches more than 10 million students through the libraries of North America's 4,000 colleges and universities and handles more than 2.5 million pageviews per day. ProQuest Company was born of Bell & Howell Company's two information access businesses. Based in Ann Arbor, Mich., ProQuest Company has more than 2,400 employees and more than $370 million in sales.