London, England, 14 January 2009 -- Reed Elsevier announced today that it has priced and allocated notes with a value of USD 1.5 billion, across five-year and 10- year fixed-rate maturities. The notes are being issued through Reed Elsevier’s wholly owned U.S. subsidiary, Reed Elsevier Capital Inc, which also issued its U.S. dollar notes in 2005, and are guaranteed by Reed Elsevier PLC and Reed Elsevier NV. Completion of the issue is expected to occur on 16 January 2009.

Of the total, USD 550 million of five-year notes will pay a coupon of 7.750% and mature on 15 January 2014, and USD 950 million of 10-year notes will pay a coupon of 8.625% and mature on 15 January 2019. The notes are registered with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). Barclays Capital, Citi, HSBC, and JP Morgan were joint bookrunners.

Reed Elsevier will use the proceeds from the offering to partially repay debt incurred in connection with the acquisition of ChoicePoint.

The offering of the notes is being made only by means of a registration statement filed by Reed Elsevier with the SEC and a prospectus supplement and related prospectus. A copy of the prospectus supplement and related prospectus relating to the offering, when available, can be obtained on the SEC’s Web site at www.sec.gov or from Reed Elsevier’s Web site at www.reedelsevier.com.