Informa Group Plc announced today that it has agreed to acquire MCM Group Inc. ("MCM"), headquartered in New York and a specialist provider of real time analysis delivered electronically to financial institutions worldwide. The consideration is $44.9 million (£30.5 million), adjusted for net working capital at completion, payable in cash. The transaction is expected to complete in February 2001.

In the year to 30 June 2000, the Company made an operating profit of $5.6 million (£3.8 million) before goodwill amortisation on revenues of $45.0 million (£30.6 million). Profit before tax was $6.0 million (£4.1 million) including $1.2 million (£0.8 million) of non continuing net interest receivable relating to certain assets and liabilities that do not form part of this transaction. Net assets at 30 June 2000 (excluding the assets and liabilities not to be acquired by Informa) were $4.9 million (£3.3 million).

Peter Rigby, chairman of Informa Group plc, commented:

"We welcome the MCM team to the Informa Group. The business is in one of our core markets, providing value added information and analysis to business customers on a subscription basis. We see the financial information business sector as one where there are exciting business opportunities and this acquisition helps increase our presence in this area. Last year we acquired another financial information business in the USA, Informa Research Services. We are also pleased to be increasing our presence in the USA where there remain significant business opportunities."

Kenneth B. Bohlin, chief executive officer of Informa Financial Information, said:

"We are delighted to bring MCM into Informa Financial Information, where it will strengthen Informa's position as a leading provider of essential information to the world's financial market participants. We believe that MCM's proven product offerings and established customer base will be well-positioned alongside our other existing assets, providing considerable growth opportunities for both."

For further information
Peter Rigby	Chairman
David Gilbertson	Chief Executive
Jim Wilkinson	Finance Director
Informa Group	020 7453 2222
Fiona Piper
The Maitland Consultancy	020 7379 5151

Note to editors

MCM provides comprehensive analysis of the fixed income, equity and currency markets worldwide through eleven subscription services including CorporateWatch and CurrencyWatch. Newly launched services include Structured FinanceWatch, BondScan, Emerging MarketsWatch and AsiaWatch. Almost 2,000 financial institutions in 57 countries subscribe to MCM's services and over 25,000 financial professionals use MCM's analysis throughout the day in their buy/sell decision process. MCM services are distributed primarily through Reuters, Bloomberg and Bridge Telerate networks. eMCMWatch.com, an Internet version which is in the final stages of development, will enable customers to access MCM information via the medium which is most convenient for them. Additional opportunities for eMCMWatch.com have been identified in markets that do not have access to the proprietary networks.

In addition to their Wall Street headquarters, MCM has offices in London, Paris, Tokyo, Singapore and Hong Kong. Following completion of the transaction, MCM will become part of Informa Financial Information, Inc. which provides information and analysis to various industry sub-sectors, including banking, insurance, brokerage, mutual funds and investment management.