Treasury tries a second time to sell largest educational books publisher WSiP

The Treasury Ministry has relaunched a tender for the purchase of an 80% stake in Wydawnictwa Szkolne i Pedagogiczne (WSiP), Poland's largest publisher of educational books. In December of last year the ministry cancelled the first tender, in which Pearson Education, a unit of British Pearson media group, Poland's Uniprom and Polskie Ksiazki Edukacyjne had been shortlisted. It gave no reason for its decision. The controversial provision calling for the investor to "guarantee the national identity of WSiP", which prompted large publishers such as Hachette and Wolters Kluwer to pull out of the fist running, has been left out of the tender's requirements this time around. The ministry will also not oblige the new investor to commit to a long-term investment in the company. Instead, the investor will be chosen on the basis of the price offered, its business strategy and social packages for the company's 445 workers. Likely participants in the tender include Folens of Ireland and Finland-based WSOY, which also participated in the first tender. (Rzeczpospolita, page B4; Reuters) A.Z.