Wolters Kluwer Acquires CBF Systems

Provider of Electronic Mortgage Products Will Become Part of
CCH’s Bankers Systems, Inc.

(CHICAGO, February 7, 2001) - Wolters Kluwer nv said today that it has acquired CBF Systems, Inc., Fraser, Mich., a provider of mortgage documents and document automation products for the financial services industry. CBF will operate as part of Bankers Systems, Inc., based in St. Cloud, Minn. Bankers Systems is a unit of CCH INCORPORATED (CCH), a leading provider of tax and business law information, software and services and a Wolters Kluwer North America company. Terms of the agreement were not disclosed.

"CBF will allow Bankers Systems to better meet specialized compliance needs of lenders in the United States’ rapidly changing financial services regulatory environment and marketplace," said Hugh Yarrington, member of the Executive Board of Wolters Kluwer nv responsible for North America. "As a result, Bankers Systems, which serves over 80 percent of the nation’s banks, and CBF, whose products are used by 27 of the top 30 mortgage lenders, can move faster to market in delivering more complete, integrated compliance solutions and software to current and future customers.

"CBF is a market leader in the mortgage industry with an excellent sales and service infrastructure and leading proprietary document technology," he added. "This acquisition will be a breakthrough opportunity for Bankers Systems to expand its addressable market and to create significant cross selling opportunities. The integration of CBF enables us to broaden our focus and to penetrate the growth markets of the non-community banks, regional and national banks, credit unions, mortgage providers and finance companies. CBF will clearly enhance our competitive power and we expect that the acquisition will be cash EPS enhancing immediately."

CBF provides electronic forms and advanced form automation technology for inclusion, creation, completion, delivery and archiving of forms and data for mortgage lenders, commercial banks and other forms-intensive industries, such as insurance. Its VMP Mortgage Forms division provides print forms to the secondary market lenders and electronic forms for conventional and government mortgage loans, and other special loan programs.

In addition, CBF’s ELF Solutions focuses on Windows-based products that allow for the viewing, printing and merging of data on a form, retrieving data and forms from multiple sources within a database network and then incorporating data into a printable document package.

CBF had 2000 sales of approximately $21 million and has approximately 150 employees, primarily located in Fraser.

Bankers Systems is the leading provider of compliance resource solutions that support and document transactions for banks, credit unions, finance companies, trust organizations and other financial services companies that operate within state and federal mandates. It sells and licenses advanced software products that support loan and deposit documentation and integrates compliance tools into the customer’s workflow. In addition, Bankers Systems provides a comprehensive line of electronic and print forms for account, loan and retirement plan transactions and disclosure.

CCH INCORPORATED (www.cch.com), a Wolters Kluwer company headquartered in Riverwoods, Ill. was founded in 1913 and has served four generations of business professionals and their clients. The company annually produces more than 700 electronic and print products for the tax, legal, financial services, securities, human resources, health care and small business markets.

Bankers Systems, Inc. (www.bankerssystem.com), a CCH INCORPORATED company, is a leading national provider of compliance resource solutions for financial institutions and their legal counsel.

Wolters Kluwer (www.wolterskluwer.com) is a multinational information services company with annual sales of more than EUR 3 billion, employing approximately 19,000 people in Europe, North America and Asia Pacific. The company’s core activities are Legal, Tax & Business, International Health & Science and Education. The Wolters Kluwer shares are quoted on the Euronext Amsterdam. Financial results for the year 2000 will be announced on March 27, 2001.

-- ### --