NEW YORK,   December 14, 1999 — Tribune Education has agreed to acquire the high school academic product lines of South-Western Educational Publishing, a division of Thomson Learning. Terms of the agreement were not disclosed.

"South-Western’s social studies materials are successful, established brands in high school elective subjects," Alan Aldworth, Tribune Education vice president/operations and development, said. "High school social studies is a new market for our businesses, so this acquisition further strengthens our product line. These materials are an excellent fit with the existing high school product lines of NTC/Contemporary Publishing Group."

The South-Western social studies line includes world history, economics, American government, psychology and law. "All of the materials are well respected, and the titles enjoy wide acceptance in high school courses," Mark R. Pattis, chairman of NTC/Contemporary, said.

Gary Facente, vice president and general manager of NTC/Contemporary, added, "These products will enhance our successful strategy of publishing texts and supplementary materials for elective subject areas."

Under the agreement, Tribune also will acquire mathematics and science lines from South-Western. The social studies and math lines will be incorporated into NTC/Contemporary’s educational division, reporting to Steve VanThournout, vice president and publisher. The science products will be integrated into Everyday Learning Corporation, another Tribune Education company.

Thomson Learning will retain rights to the South-Western brand name and will continue to publish and market business/office technology and computer education products and services under that imprint. Thomson Learning also will continue to produce and market South-Western College Publishing brands, as well as a broad range of product lines for higher education, corporate training and adult learning.

"This sale allows Thomson Learning to focus on those subjects where we are a lifelong-learning market leader," said Robert S. Christie, president and CEO of Thomson Learning. "In business, technology and computer courses, we can take the student from their high school years on through college and professional/career training and certification."

Tribune (NYSE: TRB) is a leading media company with operations in television and radio broadcasting, publishing, education and interactive ventures. It is an industry leader in venture partnerships with new-media companies. In 1999, for the second straight year, Tribune ranked No. 1 among its industry peers in Fortune magazine’s lists of most-admired companies in America and in the world.

Tribune Education develops and markets lifelong learning products and services for use in schools and homes. It is an industry leader in supplemental education materials and a major publisher of children’s books and non-fiction consumer titles. Its business units are The Wright Group, Everyday Learning/Creative Publications Group, NTC/Contemporary Publishing Group, Landoll, Inc., and Instructional Fair Group.

More information on Tribune is available on the Internet: https://www.tribune.com. Earnings and other news releases also can be accessed by calling 1-800-757-1694.

Thomson Learning is among the world’s leading providers of lifelong learning, serving the needs of individuals, learning institutions and corporations with products and services for both traditional and distributed learning. Thomson Learning is part of The Thomson Corporation, one of the world’s leading information companies, with interests in specialized information worldwide, and in newspaper publishing in North America. The Corporation’s common shares are traded on the Toronto and London stock exchanges. Visit www.thomsonlearning.com and www.thomson.com for more information.