In 1998, Gale Research merged with Information Access Company and Primary Source Media, two companies also owned by Thomson, to form the Gale Group. Thomson has acquired Information Access Company (publisher of
InfoTrac) in 1995 and Primary Source Media (formerly named Research Publications) in 1979. In 1999, Thomson Gale acquired Macmillan Library Reference (including
Scribner's Reference, Thorndike Press, Schirmer, Twayne Publishers, and
G. K. Hall) from Pearson (which had acquired it from
Simon & Schuster in 1998;
Macmillan USA was purchased by Simon & Schuster in 1994). On October 25, 2006, Thomson Corporation announced that it intended to wholly
divest the Thomson Learning division, because, in the words of Thomson CEO Richard Harrington, "it does not fit with our long-term strategic vision." Thomson has said that it expected this sale to generate approximately $5 billion. Thomson Learning was bought by a private equity consortium consisting of
Apax Partners and
OMERS Capital Partners for $7.75 billion and the name was changed from Thomson Learning to
Cengage Learning on July 24, 2007. Patrick C. Sommers was president of Gale from October 22, 2007, until he retired in 2010. In 2013, Cengage Learning filed for
Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection. ==Products==