West Expands Its Public Records Services; Provides Technology and Analytics to Government and Law Enforcement

EAGAN, Minn., Sept. 22, 2008 - West announced today that it has reached an agreement with Reed Elsevier to acquire ChoicePoint's AutoTrack XP government business and CLEAR product line. A newly created business, West Government Services, will be built around the new team and provide technology, analytic and public record information to government agencies and law enforcement organizations, and will bring an alternative solution for public records information to these important markets. Terms of the deal were not disclosed.

The acquisition strengthens and deepens West's public records information business, providing proprietary technology and analytics that can deliver more relevant search results and insights for government, law enforcement and other users of public records content. West is the foremost provider of integrated information solutions, software and services to the U.S. legal market, and is part of Thomson Reuters.

Andrew Martens, West's senior vice president of New Product Development, said the acquisition builds on West's strategy of developing dedicated research tools that combine must-have proprietary and Web content with advanced search and filtering technologies geared to the unique needs of specialized users.

"CLEAR brings with it a very strong technology platform that has achieved outstanding success and positive customer response since it was officially launched just a few months ago," said Martens. "The business is well-positioned to be the market leader in serving the mission critical needs of vital government and law enforcement organizations."

CLEAR allows for federated searching - that is, using a single interface to search across multiple data sources. Federated searching offers easy access to additional data sources that may be of interest to analysts and investigators.

"West intends to continue its investment in the law enforcement and government markets and is committed to growing and developing the CLEAR platform," said Martens. "We see great opportunity for our combined companies to provide customers with more comprehensive solutions. Above all, we're delighted to have this team and these products, as well as the impressive reputation both have built with law enforcement and related government customers."

"We're excited to join the West organization and confident this will enable new capabilities to help further the mission of our customers in the law enforcement and government market," said Steve Rubley, vice president of West Government Services.

Headquartered in Eagan, Minn., West is the foremost provider of integrated information solutions, software and services to the U.S. legal market. West is part of Thomson Reuters. For more information, please visit the West Web site at west.thomson.com.