France Telecom plans to invest in Wirtualna Polska

The France Telecom owned portal Wanadoo is set to join the group of Wirtualna Polska (WP) strategic investors. WP would thus become part of the Wanadoo group, which deals with providing Internet services, Internet access and B2B (business to business) services. The French portal can also offer ISP know-how as well as experience on international markets. TP Internet, a subsidiary of TP SA Poland's telecom giant, also owned by France Telecom, is interested in investing in a 50.1% stake of WP. TP Internet estimates the value of the WP package at zl. 86 million and has therefore raised its own capital by the same amount. The transaction between TP SA and WP will be finalized by the end of August but it is still unclear at which point Wanadoo would join the company. According to Benita Mikolajewicz, an analyst for ING Barings, WP needs a partner with experience on the more developed markets. (Puls Biznesu, p. 4) M.T.K.