Seal the Deal

ProQuest <proquest.com>, creator of the HeritageQuest Online genealogy records site (available through subscribing libraries), has sold that service along with the rest of its ProQuest Information and Learning Division. Bethesda, Md.-based Cambridge Information Group (CIG) is the buyer. CIG will combine one of its subsidiaries with the ProQuest business, creating a new company that will operate both in Bethesda and in ProQuest’s home, Ann Arbor, Mich.

ProQuest endured a bumpy ride last year: In February, the company announced accounting irregularities had caused an earnings overstatement of $80 million in less that five years. Then it faced backlash after discontinuing remote access to HeritageQuest Online through genealogical society Web sites. ProQuest sold its Business Solutions division to Snap-on in October.