THOMSON CORPORATION put its $5 billion (£2.7 billion) Thomson Learning division on the market yesterday, bringing the total value of educational publishing businesses up for sale to nearly $10 billion.

Thomson Corporation has hired Morgan Stanley, the Wall Street bank, to handle the sale of the unit, which has an estimated 25 per cent of the US higher education publishing market. The auction, which could be confirmed as Thomson Corporation unveils its third-quarter results today, will see Thomson Learning join Houghton Mifflin, the US schools publisher, and Wolters Kluwer’s education arm on the market.

The price that these businesses fetch could serve as a benchmark for private equity firms eyeing a possible break-up of Pearson, the educational publisher and owner of the Financial Times.

Analysts said that Thomson Learning was likely to appeal to a consortium of private equity firms. Trade buyers including Pearson and Reed Elsevier, the Anglo-Dutch publisher, are understood to have ruled themselves out of the auction.

The sale of Thomson Learning comes as the private equity owners of Houghton Mifflin are in talks with Riverdeep, the Irish educational software group, over a $3.5 billion reverse-takeover deal.

It also follows the recent announcement by Wolters Kluwer, one of Europe’s largest publishers of primary, secondary and professional educational materials, that it is reviewing its education arm, which could fetch about $800 million.

Sources said yesterday that Pearson is considering a bid for Wolters Kluwers’ education arm. The division would also fit with SanomaWSOY, the Finnish media group, according to analysts.

Industry sources said that the proposed sale of the three educational publishing businesses could be attributed to the fact that electronic educational tools are becoming increasingly important in the industry and that the pressure to invest in them has increased.

They pointed out that Houghton Mifflin, a traditional publisher, is in merger talks with an educational software provider.

It is thought that Thomson Learning has also faced increasing pressure to introduce educational software, as technology becomes more important in educational publishing.

The auction of Thomson Learning would allow the parent group to focus on its legal, financial and scientific- information businesses. Thomson’s financial unit competes with Reuters for bank and brokerage customers.

Thomson declined to comment yesterday.

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