ProQuest Will Acquire Dialog from Thomson Reuters

from Library Journal:

ProQuest today announced that it has signed an agreement to acquire Dialog from Thomson Reuters. Financial terms of the transaction were not disclosed. ProQuest said that it would update Dialog’s platforms, renovate existing products, and explore new opportunities.

ProQuest News Release:

ANN ARBOR, Mich., June 12, 2008 -- ProQuest, a Cambridge Information Group company, has signed an agreement under which ProQuest would acquire the Thomson Reuters Dialog® business. The transaction is expected to close pending a successful completion of the formal consultation period and other customary closing conditions. Financial terms of the transaction are not disclosed.

The acquisition of Dialog would allow ProQuest to deepen its penetration in the corporate library and professional research markets with a valued brand, authoritative content and precision search tools.

"Dialog is a highly respected source of information and a trusted brand for libraries, so it is an exceptionally good fit in the ProQuest family," said ProQuest CEO Marty Kahn. "The companies' content and market strengths complement each other and just as important is the match with our values -- we share a deep understanding of the library community and commitment to serving it with high-quality information tools."

Dialog would continue to be an important distribution channel for Thomson Reuters content after the transaction. Derwent World Patents Index (DWPI), Investext, TrademarkScan, SciSearch® and BIOSIS are among the many business-critical databases that will remain available through the Dialog services.

"Both ProQuest and Thomson Reuters understand the valuable role of Dialog in the information industry," said Mr. Kahn. "During this interim period, we feel absolutely confident that Thomson Reuters will continue to provide customers with the high level of support and service they have come to expect."

Founded 40 years ago by Roger Summit, Dialog was the world's first online information retrieval system to be used globally with commercially important databases. Dialog online-based information services help organizations across the globe to seek competitive advantages in such fields as business, science, engineering, finance and law. The Dialog portfolio of products and services, including Dialog® and DataStar®, offers organizations the ability to precisely retrieve data from more than 1.4 billion unique records of key information, accessible via the Internet.

With direct operations in 27 countries, Dialog products and services are a combination of highly accurate online research tools offering access to unique and relevant databases designed to meet the specific needs of its wide range of users. Information professionals and end-users within business, professional and government organizations in more than 100 countries value Dialog services to meet their searching needs.

ProQuest plans for the Dialog business include refreshing its platforms, evolving them to meet the needs of today's information professional, as well as exploring new products and renovating existing products. For more information about the ProQuest family of information brands and products, visit www.proquest.com.