WARSAW (Thomson Financial) - Rautakirja, Finland's largest press distributor and a unit of Sanoma WSOY, is interested in buying a controlling stake in its Polish peer Ruch, daily Rzeczpospolita reported today without giving its sources.
Polish state treasury plans to sell a 50 pct stake plus one share in Ruch. It said in June it was in talks with a group of investors, which includes local and foreign financial investors as well as publicly-traded companies.
'We do not comment on our investment plans,' the newspaper quotes Rautakirja management board member Jukka Nikkinen as saying. 'I can only say that our company is interested in growing our business in central and eastern Europe, including Poland.'
The list of potential bidders for Ruch, which sells almost half of all newspapers in Poland, also includes Polish discount wholesaler Eurocash and a Polish individual investor Zbigniew Jakubas, Rzeczpospolita said.
Separately, Ruch said today it could miss its 2007 net profit forecast of 49.3 mln zlotys after it agreed to trade union demands for higher wages. It also said it earned 20 mln zlotys on 2.05 bln in revenues in the first half of the year.
Shares in Ruch fell 0.9 pct to 25.10 zlotys by 0950 CET, valuing the company, in which the state holds a 62 pct stake, at 1.49 bln zlotys. piotr.skolimowski@thomson.com +48 22 447 24 36 ps1/ejb COPYRIGHT Copyright AFX News Limited 2007. All rights reserved. The copying, republication or redistribution of AFX News Content, including by framing or similar means, is expressly prohibited without the prior written consent of AFX News.
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