The IDRAC business, based in France, is a provider of regulatory and intellectual property information to pharmaceutical companies worldwide. This sector represents a key market for IHI's intellectual property business. IDRAC provides legal, regulatory, scientific and technical texts, plus explanatory documents from 24 countries and 2 broader regions related to pharmaceutical product registrations. At the same time, GSI, based in Germany, is a provider of intellectual property management software. It is thought that its products are complementary to the IHI’s own patent annuity payment services but aimed at new key European markets.

The IDRAC transaction has already been completed, while the GSI transaction is due to be completed by the end of April 2001. Commenting on the announcement, Mason Slaine, President and CEO of IHI said, "These acquisitions will significantly strengthen the position of our intellectual property business world-wide. It provides us with a significant base of operations on continental Europe, an important growth area for IHI. In IDRAC we are acquiring a high-growth, subscription-based business that provides "need-to-know" information in an important market. With our investment in GSI we believe we will be able to provide the most advanced software products in the IP industry."