Merchandising Agreement

Bloomsbury Publishing PLC 30 November 2000 0700hrs 30th November 20000 Bloomsbury Publishing Plc Harry Potter Merchandising Agreement Bloomsbury Publishing Plc announces that it has acquired, from Warner Brother Consumer Products (UK) Limited, certain publishing related merchandising rights for the Harry Potter series and the film to the first book, Harry Potter and the Philosophers' Stone, which is planned to be screened in November 2001. The rights, for the UK only, are for a two-year period and cover a wide range of mass-market retail products including journals, diaries, notebooks, calendars, address books and writing paper. Bloomsbury is adopting a cautious approach to the size of the market. The merchandising will be launched in March 2001 and print run quantities will be restricted to initial demand. Early piloting of the merchandise in the USA indicates that there is a very strong market for the products. For further information contact: Nigel Newton, Chief Executive, Bloomsbury Publishing plc 0207 494 6015 Simon Forrest, Impact Corporate Communications 0207 355 5150 (m) 0585 317746