WSOY acquires majority in Young Digital Poland - SanomaWSOY now operates in 16 countries
Werner Söderström Corporation (WSOY), a division of SanomaWSOY Group, has signed an agreement to increase its holding in the Polish eLearning company Young Digital Poland (YDP). Acquisition is based on agreement where WSOY had an option to increase its holding in YDP as of the beginning of 2004. Subsequently WSOY's holding in YDP will increase from 49% to 55.1%.
The acquisition supports WSOY's strategy to internationalise in the field of eLearning and education in general. Within WSOY, YDP forms part of eWSOY, responsible for coordinating WSOY's eLearning activities.
After the YDP acquisition SanomaWSOY has operations in 16 European countries.
YDP develops and publishes interactive educational software packages, language learning software and eLearning technologies. The company is one of the world's largest eLearning content developer covering majority of school subjects at primary and secondary level, developed for both off-line and Internet use. Modularised Learning Objects allows YDP to effectively adopt content to national curriculas and specific educational systems. YDP also develops eLearning platform, Leo, which is a complete virtual learning environment including content creation tools. The company is in close co-operation with some of the leading textbook publishers in Europe developing educational software as an extension of their traditional paper-based media.
YDP was founded in 1990 in Poland. In 2003, the company?s net sales were EUR 6.6 million and it employed an average of 210 people. YDP products are marketed in almost 20 countries in Europe and Asia with 70% of sales generated from exports.