Annual Report 2011 on Form 20-F Annual Report 2011 on Form 20-F As filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission on March 12, 2012 UNITED STATES SECURITIES AND EXCHANGE COMMISSION Washington, D.C. 20549 FORM 20-F (Mark One) ‘ REGISTRATION STATEMENT PURSUANT TO SECTION 12(b) or 12(g) OF THE SECURITIES EXCHANGE ACT OF 1934 Or Í ANNUAL REPORT PURSUANT TO SECTION 13 or 15(d) OF THE SECURITIES EXCHANGE ACT OF 1934 For the fiscal year ended December 31, 2011 Or ‘ TRANSITION REPORT PURSUANT TO SECTION 13 or 15(d) OF THE SECURITIES EXCHANGE ACT OF 1934 For the transition period from to Or ‘ SHELL COMPANY REPORT PURSUANT TO SECTION 13 OR 15(d) OF THE SECURITIES EXCHANGE ACT OF 1934 Commission file number: 1-3334 REED ELSEVIER PLC REED ELSEVIER NV (Exact name of Registrant as specified in its charter) (Exact name of Registrant as specified in its charter) England The Netherlands (Jurisdiction of incorporation or organisation) (Jurisdiction of incorporation or organisation) 1-3 Strand, London, WC2N 5JR, England Radarweg 29, 1043 NX, Amsterdam, The Netherlands (Address of principal executive offices) (Address of principal executive offices) Henry Udow Jans van der Woude Company Secretary Company Secretary Reed Elsevier PLC Reed Elsevier NV 1-3 Strand, London, WC2N 5JR, England Radarweg 29, 1043 NX, Amsterdam, The Netherlands 011 44 20 7930 7077 011 31 20 485 2222 [email protected] [email protected] (Name, telephone, e-mail and/or facsimile number and address of (Name, telephone, e-mail and/or facsimile number and address of Company Contact Person) Company Contact Person) Securities registered or to be registered pursuant to Section 12(b) of the Act: Name of exchange on which Title of each class registered Reed Elsevier PLC: American Depositary Shares (each representing four Reed Elsevier PLC ordinary shares) New York Stock Exchange Ordinary shares of 14 51/116p each (the “Reed Elsevier PLC ordinary shares”) New York Stock Exchange* Reed Elsevier NV: American Depositary Shares (each representing two Reed Elsevier NV ordinary shares) New York Stock Exchange Ordinary shares of €0.07 each (the “Reed Elsevier NV ordinary shares”) New York Stock Exchange* * Listed, not for trading, but only in connection with the listing of the applicable Registrant’s American Depositary Shares issued in respect thereof. Securities registered or to be registered pursuant to Section 12(g) of the Act: None Securities for which there is a reporting obligation pursuant to Section 15(d) of the Act: None Indicate the number of outstanding shares of each of the issuers’ classes of capital or common stock as of December 31, 2011: Reed Elsevier PLC: Number of outstanding shares Ordinary shares of 14 51/116p each ................................................................................... 1,250,913,565 Reed Elsevier NV: Ordinary shares of €0.07 each ........................................................................................ 724,077,755 R shares of €0.70 each (held by a subsidiary of Reed Elsevier PLC) .......................................................... 4,303,179 Indicate by check mark if the registrants are well-known seasoned issuers, as defined in Rule 405 of the Securities Act. Yes Í No ‘ If this report is an annual or transition report, indicate by check mark if the registrants are not required to file reports pursuant to Section 13 or 15(d) of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934. Yes ‘ No Í Indicate by check mark whether the registrants (1) have filed all reports required to be filed by Section 13 or 15(d) of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934 during the preceding 12 months (or for such shorter period that the registrant was required to file such reports), and (2) have been subject to such filing requirements for the past 90 days: Yes Í No ‘ Indicate by check mark whether the registrant has submitted electronically and posted on its corporate Web site, if any, every Interactive Data File required to be submitted and posted pursuant to Rule 405 of Regulation S-T during the preceding 12 months (or for such shorter period that the registrant was required to submit and post such files). Yes ‘ No ‘ Indicate by check mark whether the registrants are large accelerated filers, accelerated filers, or non-accelerated filers. See definition of “accelerated filer and large accelerated filer” in Rule 12b-2 of the Exchange Act. Large accelerated filer Í Accelerated filer ‘ Non-accelerated filer ‘ Indicate by check mark which basis of accounting the registrants have used to prepare the financial statements included in this filing. ‘ US GAAP Í International Financial Reporting Standards as issued by the International Accounting Standards Board ‘ Other If “Other” has been checked in response to the previous question indicate by check mark which financial statement item the registrants have elected to follow: Item 17 ‘ Item 18 ‘ If this is an annual report, indicate by check mark whether the registrants are shell companies (as defined in Rule 12b-2 of the Exchange Act): Yes ‘ No Í TABLE OF CONTENTS Page GENERAL ..................................................................................... 1 SPECIAL NOTE REGARDING FORWARD LOOKING STATEMENTS ................................... 2 PART I ITEM 1: IDENTITY OF DIRECTORS, SENIOR MANAGEMENT AND ADVISERS .................. N/A ITEM 2: OFFER STATISTICS AND EXPECTED TIMETABLE .................................... N/A ITEM 3: KEY INFORMATION .............................................................. 3 Selected Financial Data ............................................................ 3 Risk Factors ..................................................................... 7 ITEM 4: INFORMATION ON REED ELSEVIER ................................................ 11 History and Development .......................................................... 11 Business Overview ............................................................... 13 Government Regulation ........................................................... 24 Organisational Structure ........................................................... 24 Property, Plants and Equipment ..................................................... 24 ITEM 4A: UNRESOLVED STAFF COMMENTS ................................................. N/A ITEM 5: OPERATING AND FINANCIAL REVIEW AND PROSPECTS ............................. 25 Operating Results — Reed Elsevier .................................................. 25 Liquidity and Capital Resources — Reed Elsevier ....................................... 35 Contractual Obligations ............................................................ 35 Off-Balance Sheet Arrangements .................................................... 36 Short Term Borrowings ............................................................ 37 Operating Results — Reed Elsevier PLC and Reed Elsevier NV ............................ 39 Trend Information ................................................................ 40 ITEM 6: DIRECTORS, SENIOR MANAGEMENT AND EMPLOYEES ............................. 41 Directors ....................................................................... 41 Senior Management ............................................................... 42 Compensation ................................................................... 43 Board Practices .................................................................. 58 Employees ...................................................................... 60 Share Ownership ................................................................. 61 ITEM 7: MAJOR SHAREHOLDERS AND RELATED PARTY TRANSACTIONS .................... 68 Major Shareholders ............................................................... 68 Related Party Transactions ......................................................... 69 ITEM 8: FINANCIAL INFORMATION ....................................................... 70 ITEM 9: THE OFFER AND LISTING ......................................................... 71 Trading Markets ................................................................. 71 ITEM 10: ADDITIONAL INFORMATION ...................................................... 73 Memorandum and Articles of Association ............................................. 73 Material Contracts ................................................................ 78 Exchange Controls ............................................................... 78 Taxation ........................................................................ 78 Documents on Display ............................................................ 81 ITEM 11: QUANTITATIVE AND QUALITATIVE DISCLOSURES ABOUT MARKET RISK ............ 82 ITEM 12: DESCRIPTION OF SECURITIES OTHER THAN EQUITY SECURITIES .................... 84 Page PART II ITEM 13: DEFAULTS, DIVIDEND ARREARAGES AND DELINQUENCIES ......................... N/A ITEM 14: MATERIAL MODIFICATIONS TO THE RIGHTS OF SECURITY HOLDERS AND USE OF PROCEEDS ....................................................................... N/A ITEM 15: CONTROLS AND PROCEDURES .................................................... 85 ITEM 16A: AUDIT COMMITTEE FINANCIAL EXPERT ........................................... 91 ITEM 16B: CODES OF ETHICS ................................................................ 91 ITEM 16C: PRINCIPAL ACCOUNTANT FEES AND SERVICES .................................... 91 ITEM 16D: EXEMPTIONS FROM THE LISTING STANDARDS FOR AUDIT COMMITTEES ............ 92 ITEM 16E: PURCHASES OF EQUITY SECURITIES BY THE ISSUER