South-Western Licenses PEI Tax Software
to Supplement Higher Education Texts

Tracy, CA November 13, 2002- Petz Enterprises, Inc. (PEI) and South-Western, a Thomson business (NYSE: TOC; TSX: TOC) announced today that they have signed a three year licensing agreement to provide an educational version of PEI's CrossLink Professional Tax Software as a courseware supplement to a variety of South-Western's market-leading taxation titles.

"We are very pleased that South-Western has chosen CrossLink as the professional tax software to accompany their outstanding educational titles," commented Leroy E. Petz, Sr., CEO of Petz Enterprises. "South-Western has been a distinguished leader in the area of educational publishing for nearly 100 years, and it is a unique honor to be associated with them."

"As the business world becomes more global, more competitive, and more technology-rich, business leaders of tomorrow need the best education available. Through this relationship with PEI we are expanding our educational materials to include a tool that represents the state-of-the art in modern tax compliance," stated Robert D. Lynch, President, and CEO of South-Western.

Recently voted the number one tax preparation software by the National Society of Tax Practitioners, CrossLink Professional Tax Products are the leading applications for high volume, multi-office and service bureau tax preparation. For 13 years, CrossLink Professional Tax Software has ranked among the most popular products for electronic filing, tax return preparation, and tax-related financial services in the industry.

Starting early next year, CrossLink will be made available via the Internet for instructors and students to download and use as a learning supplement to a number of taxation textbooks published by South-Western. The software will be available in a special educational release, making it possible for users to complete, print, and e-mail individual income tax forms for use in their tax course. Exposure to Crosslink software, one of the leading commercial tax preparation tools, will better prepare the learner for their future in the business world.

CrossLink will be available with the following South-Western titles: The 2003 edition of Whittenburg's Income Tax Fundamentals; The 2004 editions of West Federal Taxation: Individual Income Taxes; West Federal Taxation: Corporations, Partnerships, Estates and Trusts; West Federal Taxation: Comprehensive Volume; West Federal Taxation: Introduction to Business Entities; West Federal Taxation: Advanced Business Entity Taxation; and, Murphy/Higgins' Concepts in Federal Taxation.

About Petz Enterprises, Inc.

Petz Enterprises, Inc. (a closely-held California corporation) is a leading provider of tax preparation and filing solutions for the professional and consumer markets, helping to automate and simplify federal, state and local tax compliance.

PEI's Crosslink^® line of professional tax software products enable tax practitioners and service bureaus to accurately prepare and file large volumes of individual tax returns. At the IRS Tax Forum, PEI announced the availability of V-TaxT, the world's first online software designed exclusively for professional tax preparers serving large numbers of individuals from multiple locations

Founded in 1974 and based in Tracy, California, PEI is dedicated to serving the needs of the professional tax community and individual taxpayers worldwide. For more information, visit www.petzent.com.