PRESS RELEASE

ELECTRIC WORD PLC

Stock Exchange Announcement

Electric Word plc, the niche content company, today announced its second acquisition since listing on the AIM market at the end of March with the purchase of Lottery Monitor Limited. Earlier this year, Electric Word acquired Optimus Publishing Limited and now publishes twelve newsletters in sports science and fitness, health, funding and education management with a number of new launches planned for later this year.

Lottery Monitor is a well-established newsletter and conference business that provides local government bodies and 'good causes' with information about the distribution of funds from the National Lottery. It also offers subscribers a Lottery Advisor helpline, access to the statistics library and runs a series of national and regional conferences.

Since the launch of the National Lottery in 1994, over £7bn of funds have been distributed through the 12 different Lottery Boards. Lottery Monitor analyses how those grants are made and the policy initiatives that lie behind them, at both Government and Board level. By using that information, local authorities and good causes can better understand how to attract Lottery funding and evaluate the impact of Lottery money in their area. Department of Culture, Media and Sport Minister Chris Smith has described Lottery Monitor as "a very useful forum for discussion, argument and comment on the Lottery" (Lottery Monitor annual conference, Sept 1997). Lottery Monitor was founded in 1996 by Alasdair Buchan.

Electric Word Chief Executive Julian Turner commented: "Lottery Monitor and Lottery Cash For Schools are a high-quality franchise - and the perfect fit with our existing business. We already publish five titles in education management and have an excellent sports database through Peak Performance, our sports science title. Lottery Monitor adds to our core strength of businesses with solid, highly renewable subscription revenues and helps us gain critical mass. It has an established conference business, which is an element we have been looking to develop, and we can certainly add something on the subscriptions marketing side. We also see a great opportunity to develop further products, both on- and off-line, as Lottery funding reaches out to more and more organizations. I look forward to working with Alasdair Buchan to develop these ideas and welcome him as a shareholder in Electric Word".

Lottery Monitor Limited had revenues last year of £290,972, making a pre-tax profit of £67,124 [unaudited]. Revenues for the first four months of the current financial year were £157,860 [unaudited] including the national conference in July. The balance sheet contains cash of c £96,000. Electric Word plc are paying £600,000 in cash and £400,000 in loanstock convertible into ordinary shares at any time during the year from March 31st 2001 at the average mid-market price of the 30 days prior to conversion.

For further information please contact:

Seymour Pierce: Jonathan Wright - 020 7648 8700
Hansard Communications: Takki Sulaiman - 0378 419218

Embargoed 8 May 2000 07.00am

PRESS RELEASE

ELECTRIC WORD PLC

Electric Word, the niche consumer and professional publisher, has completed its first acquisition since floating on the AIM market on 29th March.

Chief Executive Julian Turner commented: "A key element of our strategy was to find consolidation opportunities within the newsletter industry and I'm delighted we have been able to bring Optimus into the group so quickly. In Ed Tranham and Chris Kington we have gained two top-quality publishers as well as a business with enormous potential."

Electric Word has broadened its scope from sports science and health to include education. Optimus produces a range of niche newsletters in education management. Optimus publishes nine titles (SENCO Update, CPD Update, Curriculum Management Update, Headship Matters, Lottery Cash for Schools, PSHE and Citizenship Update, Education Law Update, School Governor Update and Human Resources Management Update).

Optimus Divisional Director Chris Kington commented: "There is a revolution taking place in the culture of our schools. The government's devolution of education decision-making has changed the agenda for head teachers and their staff - and created both opportunities and new demands. The challenge now is for senior teachers to develop more sophisticated management skills. We provide the guidance and information they need."

The all-shares deal sees Ed Tranham and Chris Kington receive Electric Word shares to the value of a maximum of 1.5 times turnover for the year to December 31st 2000 - which is expected to value Optimus at c. £200,000. They have also been granted share options in the parent company and Ed Tranham has been appointed to the board of Electric Word plc.

Electric Word's sports science division continues to develop, with two new launches planned before October.

Notes to Editors:

Ed Tranham has worked as an education consultant with Capita Group PLC, Finance Director of Cambridge Education Associates Ltd and Business Development Director at the information publishing division of Longman. He then worked at Pitman Publishing, before founding Tranham Associates and, with Chris Kington, Tranham-Kington consulting and Optimus.

Chris Kington has worked in education publishing for over 25 years. Before setting up Optimus he was on the board with the Longman Group as Development Director (Education), and group Director of New Media Developments. He is currently a director of consultancy Tranham-Kington and the award-winning education book publisher Chris Kington Publishing.

For further information please contact:-
Julian Turner - Chief Executive
Electric Word plc

Takki Sulaiman Mobile: 0378 419218
Hansard Communications.Com Ltd Tel: 0207 735 9415