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ProQuest Signs Five Leading OEMs to Use ProQuest Outdoor Power Products and Solutions

Husqvarna; Kawasaki Motors Corp., USA; MTD; Stihl, Inc. and Tecumseh Europa Join With ProQuest to Further Enhance Their Parts Businesses

CHARLOTTE, N.C., May 17 -- ProQuest Business Solutions, a subsidiary of ProQuest Company and a leading provider of electronic parts catalogs and e-commerce solutions, has signed new agreements to provide solutions to five top outdoor power product manufacturers -- Husqvarna; Kawasaki Motors Corp., USA; MTD; Stihl, Inc. and Tecumseh Europa.

"We're committed to growing our business in the outdoor power market by providing the best solutions to our customers. These agreements further solidify ProQuest's position as the business partner of choice in the outdoor power market, giving us increased momentum with marquee OEMs in a very strategic market," said Scott McEwen, vice president of ProQuest Business Solutions. "We work with the leading companies in the field to help them achieve and exceed their goals. In order to grow and thrive, these outdoor power companies need to have real-time access to data and inventories and provide complete customer care. Our solutions perfectly match these needs."

Details of the agreements:

* Husqvarna will use ProQuest eConnect to provide dealers with increased ordering efficiencies, improved customer service and dramatic time savings.

* Kawasaki Motors Corp., USA will maximize the manageability of their data with internet and CD solutions from ProQuest, by combining publishing, parts catalogs, warranty and ordering to deliver the best value to their dealer network.

* MTD will look to ProQuest for a real-time inventory, pricing and ordering solution, complete with integration into the leading business management systems, for its Cub Cadet Independent Retailer network.

* Stihl, Inc. will make available to its dealers ProQuest's PartsManager Pro CD. This will complement Stihl's existing internet-based product support and warranty system from ProQuest.

* Tecumseh Europa will release PartsManager Pro Parts & Service to its dealers throughout Europe. In addition to European parts data, ProQuest's solution will make available U.S. parts and service data.

Barbara Zerfoss, vice president - marketing, Husqvarna, stated, "We chose ProQuest because their solution will enable us to provide our dealers with increased ordering efficiencies, improved customer service and dramatic time savings. ProQuest's e-commerce solution offers tight integration with the top outdoor power dealer management systems. It is clear that ProQuest is committed to the outdoor power market and will be a long-term partner."

Don Church, manager of service training & communication, Kawasaki, said, "ProQuest currently provides us with an exceptional online parts look-up, ordering, warranty and publishing solution used by the majority of Kawasaki outdoor power dealers. We have built enormous trust with ProQuest as they are a reliable long-term partner, and are very pleased to strengthen our partnership by offering our dealers a cost-effective and cutting-edge parts and service solution."

About ProQuest Company

ProQuest Company is based in Ann Arbor, Mich., and is a leading publisher of information solutions for the education, automotive and power equipment markets. We provide products and services to our customers through two business segments: Information and Learning and Business Solutions. Through our Information and Learning segment, which primarily serves the education market, we collect, organize and publish content from a wide range of sources including newspapers, periodicals and books. Our Business Solutions segment is primarily engaged in the delivery in electronic form of comprehensive parts and service information to the automotive market. Its products transform complex technical data, like parts catalogs and service manuals, into easily accessed electronic information. For the world's automotive manufacturers and their dealer networks, ProQuest also secures business-to-business information and retail performance management services. ProQuest Company was recently named one of the nation's 200 best small companies by Forbes magazine, and one of the 100 fastest growing technology companies in the United States by Business 2.0 magazine.

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