Acquisition of Polish PC Magazine Publisher

Future Network PLC
26 April 2000

                                   
            FUTURE EXPANDS INTERNATIONAL NETWORK TO POLAND
                                   
        Future to acquire leading Polish PC magazine publisher

Future  Network plc (LSE: FNET), the international specialist  consumer
magazine and online publisher, today announces that it has entered into
an  agreement  to  acquire Silver Shark Sp z.o.o.,  a  privately  owned
Polish  publishing  company and the publisher of  Poland's  leading  PC
magazine.  Completion is subject to approval from the Polish Office for
Competition and Consumer Protection, which is expected in four  to  six
weeks time.

Silver  Shark Sp z.o.o. currently publishes three monthly and  two  bi-
monthly magazines and a number of one-off specials aimed at the PC  and
computer games market.  Its largest publication is CD Action, which had
a monthly circulation of 148,000 in March - up 70% year-on-year, and is
Poland's  market-leading PC magazine.  In October 1999, the  magazine's
content  was  extended  to include additional  material  licensed  from
Future's  PC Format, PC Guide and PC Answers.  The company's two  other
monthly  magazine are Action Plus, a tips & tactics brand extension  to
CD  Action with a current circulation of 25,000, and the Polish edition
of  .net  magazine,  Future's leading UK Internet magazine,  which  was
launched last month.

Silver  Shark  is based in Wroclaw in south-west Poland  and  currently
employs  over  30 staff.  Turnover for 1999 was £2.84  million  and  is
predicted  to be in excess of £4  million  for  2000.  The chairman and 
founder of the company,  Witold Zagrodny, will remain with the business
and the company will change its name to Future Publishing, Poland.

Commenting on the acquisition, Greg Ingham, Chief Executive  of  Future
said:

'We  are delighted to have added this excellent business to The  Future
Network,  which  continues our strategy of entering  key  international
markets.   In addition to establishing Future as the market  leader  in
Poland,  the  acquisition  offers further  exciting  opportunities  for
launching other magazines and Internet publishing activities in  Poland
and neighbouring Eastern European markets.

'Silver  Shark is a smart, entrepreneurial, fast-growing  company.   It
has  great  potential and we're really looking forward to working  with
Witold  and  his  team  in  developing the business,  building  on  the
relationship we've established through our licensing agreements.'

Poland  is  one of Europe's fastest-growing markets for PC  penetration
(25%  PC  usage, population of 38.6m) and Internet usage has  increased
dramatically over the past year (April 1999 - 700,000 users; Jan 2000 -
2,000,000  users: Nua Surveys).  This growth has been achieved  despite
relatively expensive call charges.  Poland is also the fastest  growing
economy  of all ex Eastern bloc countries, with a 50% increase  in  GDP
since 1990 and average annual growth over the past four years of 6%.

For more information:

Greg Ingham, Chief Executive       Tel: [phone]
The Future Network plc

James Longfield/Harriet Keen       Tel: [phone]
Hogarth Partnership


Background on The Future Network

Future  was  founded  in the UK in 1985.  Today it publishes  over  120
magazines worldwide and has extensive online activities attracting  the
attention of 4.6 million unique visitors and generating over 58 million
page  views  per  month.   It  is  the world's  fastest  growing  major
publisher;  the  leading publisher of video games  and  home  computing
magazines  in the UK, France, Italy, Poland and the US; and,  ranks  as
the  fourth  largest magazine publisher in the UK. Future employs  over
1,500  people  in  offices in Bath, London, San  Francisco,  New  York,
Paris, Milan, Munich, Rotterdam and Wroclaw. Future was floated on  the
London   Stock  Exchange  in  June  1999  and  has  a  current   market
capitalisation of over £1 billion.

Future's  internet  activities serve the  PC,  Mac,  Games,  Music  and
Football communities in the US and the UK with fast-growing sites  like
maximumpc.com,     maximumpc.co.uk,    macdaily.com,    dailyradar.com,
intermusic.com,  and  ufn.co.uk. Future's  websites  and  web  networks
provide  rich, community- and information-based services to  people  in
these and related markets worldwide.