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Harcourt sale faces probe
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February 21, 2001: 9:10 a.m. ET
UK refers Reed Elsevier's Harcourt deal to competition authorities
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LONDON (CNN) - The British government on Wednesday referred Reed Elsevier's $5.7 billion proposed purchase of Harcourt to UK competition authorities.
The sale raises concerns related to "the market power which the merged company would have in the market for scientific, technical, and medical journals," Kim Howells, the UK competition minister, said in a statement.
Reed Elsevier, the Anglo-Dutch publisher, would take on the mantle of the world's biggest English-language textbook publisher with the acquisition of Chestnut Hill, Mass-based Harcourt. 
Howells said he would refer the acquisition of the U.S. textbook publisher to Britain's Competition Commission for a full investigation. Reed has previously said it expects to hear back from the U.S. Department of Justice by the end of March.
Reed Elsevier said in October it would buy Harcourt (H: Research, Estimates) and sell certain Harcourt educational publishing businesses to Canadian publisher Thomson Corp. for $2.06 billion.
"We remain convinced that we have a strong case in support of our acquisition of Harcourt," Crispin Davis, chief executive of Reed Elsevier, said in a statement. "We do not believe that it will have any adverse effect on the public interest, nor any significant implications for the competitive environment."
The UK competition authority is expected to complete its report by May 28, the Department of Trade and Industry said in a statement.
In Amsterdam, Elsevier shares were down 1.7 percent at  13.64 while its London-listed Reed (REED) shares were up 0.2 percent at 612.25 pence. Harcourt ended up 0.2 percent at $57.30 on Tuesday in New York. 
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