August 30, 2001 --Bowne & Co. completes acquisition of Mendez S.A.

Bowne Global Solutions and Mendez combined form market-leading provider of
globalisation services and technology

Dublin, August 30, 2001 -- Bowne & Co, Inc. (NYSE: BNE) today announced it has finalised the acquisition of Mendez S.A. (Mendez) from Lernout & Hauspie (L&H). Merrill Lynch, PriceWaterhouseCoopers, Simpson Thacher & Barlett and Freshfields Bruckhaus Deringer advised Bowne on the transaction.

Mendez will be integrated into the Bowne Global Solutions (BGS) division, effectively creating the leading enterprise in the globalisation and localisation industry with 2001 annual revenues for the combined entity of approximately $150 million. By adding Mendez' machine translation technology, technical writing and translation services to its portfolio of globalisation solutions, BGS offers the most complete range of technology-enabled globalisation and localisation services in the market.

The acquisition establishes a major professional resource in the industry with approximately 1,600 employees and production facilities in every key market in the world.