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Scholastic Acquires Baby’s First Book Club From Norwegian Publisher Sandvik AS
Company is Leading Direct Marketer of Unique, Age-Appropriate Books and Toys for Babies and Young Children

NEW YORK, April 5 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- Scholastic Corporation, (Nasdaq: SCHL - news) the global children’s publishing and media company, today announced that it has acquired Baby’s First Book Club(TM), a leading direct marketer of high quality, age-appropriate books and toys for young children, from Norwegian publisher Sandvik AS for $7.5 million. Baby’s First Book Club had net revenue of approximately $11 million in its fiscal year ended 12/31/01. Baby’s First Book Club products and customer base will be integrated into the Scholastic direct-to-home marketing channels which currently serve children ages 0 to 12. Sandvik AS was advised by Gruppo, Levey & Co. and its affiliate GLC Securities Corp.

Through direct mail and telemarketing, Baby’s First Book Club targets families with babies between 0 and 8 months, offering information and products such as cloth books and toys to enrich their child’s development at the earliest, most critical stages of learning. The company matches continuity shipments to each child’s specific developmental stage.

Richard Robinson, Scholastic’s Chairman, President and CEO, said: “Baby’s First Book Club has set the standard for unique books and products giving young children the right material at exactly the right developmental time. The company is a brilliant direct marketer with a keen understanding of how to target and serve new parents and their children effectively. Baby’s First Book Club is a natural addition to Scholastic’s growing direct-to-home continuities business, expanding our reach to new parents, and it will enhance our ability to establish relationships with young families.”

“Through its existing distribution channels, Scholastic has the unrivaled ability to reach families with children. With its strength in direct-to-home continuities, Scholastic is the right company to build on what we’ve achieved with Baby’s First Book Club,”; said Marius Sandvik, President and CEO of Sandvik AS.

Scholastic (NMS: SCHL) is the world’s largest publisher and distributor of children’s books. As a global children’s publishing and media company serving the needs of parents, teachers, and children, Scholastic provides proprietary book and software distribution through school book clubs, school book fairs and to classrooms, as well as through the retail trade. Since 1920, Scholastic has created quality educational materials for schools and has expanded its reach to include the distribution of books, software, toys, online learning services and television programming directly to the home. Scholastic’s Grolier division is the leading print and online publisher of children’s reference materials and the leader in children’s direct-to-home book clubs. Internationally, Scholastic operates wholly owned companies in Argentina, Australia, Canada, Hong Kong, India, Indonesia, Ireland, Malaysia, Mexico, New Zealand, The Philippines, Singapore, Taiwan, Thailand and the United Kingdom. The U.S. Scholastic web site http://www.scholastic.com is a leading provider of educational services online for parents, teachers and children.

Source: Scholastic Corporation