Five companies make offers for Poland's Rzeczpospolita stake

Posted by Leah McBride Mensching on January 5, 2009 at 10:35 PM

Five media groups are looking at possible buys of the Polish government's stake in the publisher of the country's daily newspaper Rzeczpospolita, AFP reported last week. Among those interested are the Czech Republic's Respekt Media and Germany's Axel Springer.

Eighty-five percent of the publisher, Przedsiebiorstwo Wydawnicze Rzeczpospolita, is owned by the country's treasury. The other 15 percent will be for employees. Meanwhile, PWR owns a 49 percent share in Presspublica, which oversees Rzeczpospolita.

The Polish treasury is expected to respond to the privatisation offers by January 23.

Other groups interested in buying the government's stake include Polish media companies Plaforma Mediowa Point Group, Zjednoczone Przedsiebiorstwa Rozrywkowe and AV Inwestor, according to AFP.