Istithmar invests $100 million in HM Rivergroup PLC

HM Rivergroup PLC acquired two U.S. educational publishers, namely, Houghton Mifflin Holding Company, Inc. and Riverdeep Holdings, Limited in December 2006, changing its name accordingly to Houghton Mifflin Riverdeep Group PLC.

Houghton Mifflin Holding Company, a leading U.S. educational publisher, was acquired for approximately $1.75 billion in cash plus the assumption of approximately $1.61 billion in net debt, from affiliates of private investment firms Thomas H. Lee Partners, Bain Capital Partners, The Blackstone Group, and management. Riverdeep Holdings Limited, a leading U.S. publisher of branded interactive educational and personal publishing products controlled by Barry O'Callaghan, Executive Chairman of HM Rivergroup PLC, was acquired in a share-for-share exchange valuing Riverdeep at approximately $1.2 billion, including the assumption of net debt.

'Houghton Mifflin Riverdeep Group will be a global company with significant future growth opportunities and the most competitive product offerings in the industry,' said Barry O'Callaghan, the Executive Chairman of the newly combined company.

'We are thrilled to announce the completion of the agreement to merge these two industry leaders that share complementary assets and a common vision for the future of education. Through the powerful combination of Houghton Mifflin's superior content and sales force and Riverdeep's leading interactive courseware, we will be able to offer customers the most comprehensive, flexible and innovative educational solutions available from one company,' said Tony Lucki, Chairman, President and CEO of Houghton Mifflin, and Vice Chairman of HM Rivergroup PLC.

David Jackson, CEO of Istithmar stated, 'Houghton Mifflin has long been considered the leading education publisher. Combined with Riverdeep's innovations in the delivery of education content using state-of-the-art technology, we see exciting growth possibilities for the newly created group.'