Elsevier also provides Ei with a greater global presence, something the company had been striving to achieve. Late in 1997, it announced a merger with Wolters Kluwer, its Dutch rival, that would create the largest scientific publishing and information group in the world. While still working through the merger timetable, Reed Elsevier announced in quick succession the agreement to acquire the Beilstein database, and the purchase of several companies from the Current Science Group including BioMedNet and ChemWeb. There had been grumblings for some time about the high cost of Elsevier science journals, but the news of the Ei purchase set off a flurry of anti-monopolistic comments on library and engineering listservs. But Elsevier has now taken on the same public relations problem as Microsoft faces.
Disturbed customers say that competition is stifled and prices are being driven up.
It is also possible that U.S. or European regulators may require some concessions. John Regazzi will have his work cut out for him, although the infusion of funds must certainly be welcome. He has molded Ei to be very agile and quick to respond to the marketplace, and Elsevier is a sprawling publishing giant. The information landscape is definitely changing. Paula J. Hane is contributing editor of Information Today.