The Fortune Group is composed of Fortune, FSB: Fortune Small Business, and eCompany Now magazines, and their corresponding Web sites: Fortune.com, fsb.com, and ecompany.com. AOL Time Warner is one of Hoover’s largest shareholders, owning approximately 17 percent of Hoover’s.

Under the new agreement, Hoover’s will license certain types of its proprietary company information to Fortune.com, including Hoover’s Company Capsules on more than 17,000 public and private companies worldwide and Hoover’s Industry Snapshots on more than 56 industries. The Fortune Group’s publications and Web sites will provide content for Hoover’s Online (http://www.hoovers.com), including several of the annual Fortune lists, such as the Fortune 500, America’s Most Admired Companies to Work For, and articles from FSB and eCompany Now. In addition, the companies will deliver to each other a variety of cooperative promotional programs, including advertising, promotions, and sponsorships within Hoover’s and Fortune online and print properties.

"This agreement builds on our long-standing relationship with the AOL service, and increases Hoover’s awareness to a very important demographic, while also bringing Fortune’s unparalleled content directly to our users," said Patrick Spain, Hoover’s CEO.

"Hoover’s provides some of the best company information available on the Web, so this alliance will be of great value to our readers who look to us in print and online for the best analysis on business," said Jack Haire, president of The Fortune Group.

Source: Hoover’s, Inc., Austin, TX, 800/486-8666, 512/374-4500; http://www.hoovers.com.