U.S. Blocks Pearson's Purchase Of Harcourt

WASHINGTON (CN) – The United States of America has filed an antitrust complaint to block Pearson Education ‘s proposed $950 million acquisition of Harcourt Assessment , a wholly owned subsidiary of Reed Elsevier . The acquisition “would combine the two largest publishers of (standardized norm-referenced comprehensive clinical) tests in the United States,” and “substantially lessen competition in the markets for adaptive behavior, speech and language, and adult abnormal personality clinical tests,” the U.S. claims. See complaint.