Reed Elsevier, the scientific journals publisher, is planning to sell $1bn (€1.17bn) worth of euro and dollar-denominated bonds to help raise cash for its acquisition of Harcourt General, its US rival.

Lehman Brothers, Salomon Smith Barney and UBS Warburg will be lead managers on the bond sale, which is likely to come in maturities of between five and 10 years. Reed Elsevier, which paid $5.65bn for Harcourt last year, will also use some of the proceeds from its bond issue to take out short-term debt it took on at the time of the acquisition. Reed also a $1.6bn secondary share sale last year to help pay for its Harcourt acquisition.