Three un-named companies shortlisted by Treasury for WSIP privatization
The Treasury Ministry has shortlisted three players to further negotiations
for the privatization of educational and pedagogical publisher WSIP. The
Ministry did not disclose the names of the companies, but unofficial sources
say that one of them is Agora SA (publisher of Gazeta Wyborcza). This is the
third attempt to date to find a strategic investor for this state-owned
company, which controls a third of the textbook market. WSIP is worth over
zl. 300 million, of which a ten percent stake is available during the
negotiations. The previous privatization of WSIP did not succeed as the
successful consortium did not have the money to pay for shares. In the last
year, WSIP has published 401 books, 38 multimedia products (CDs, cassettes)
and 63 magazine titles. Revenues from 2001's sales came out to zl. 197
million with a net profit of over zl. 17 million. (Gazeta Wyborcza, p.25)
A.L.
