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6th July 2009

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OFT gives Pearson Harcourt clearance

28.08.07 Philip Jones

Pearson's acquisition of Harcourt Education in the UK has escaped a possible referral to the Competition Commission.

In a statement put out on Friday, the OFT said it had decided, based "on the information currently available to it", not to refer the completed merger to the Competition Commission. It did not go into further detail, but added that the text of the decision would be placed on the Office of Fair Trading's web site at www.oft.gov.uk soon.

Pearson Education acquired Harcourt Education from Reed Elsevier in May for $950m. But the OFT announced in June that it was considering whether the deal would result in "a substantial lessening of competition" in the UK's educational publishing market, forcing Pearson to put its integration plans on ice.

John Fallon, c.e.o. of Pearson Education Asia, Europe, Middle East and Africa, said at the time that the combined market share for Pearson Education and Harcourt was less than 25% in primary schools publishing, secondary schools publishing and the market overall. "This a vibrant, highly competitive market with lots of players and low barriers to entry," he said. "We expect to be able to get on and combine Harcourt and Pearson once the OFT has had time to do its work."

Philip Jones pearson reed elsevier Harcourt Education OFT