Thomson, the global electronic publisher and data provider, has put its education division, Thomson Learning, up for sale in a move to realign its operations.

Thomson announced yesterday that Thomson Learning will be divested in three parts, with JP Morgan, Deutsche Bank and Morgan Stanley handling the sales.

It has already agreed the sale of NETg, its corporate education and training provider to Skillsoft plc for $285m, and is currently seeking buyers for the Prometric division. The auction for the higher education, careers and library reference part of the business will commence in early 2007. 

In a statement, the company said it had concluded that Thomson Learning was no longer a good fit with its other operations, which all consist of the supply of electronic products. The education division is not recording such high levels of growth as other areas and analysts believe it would prove difficult to convert into an electronic operation. 

Thomson's third quarter results for 2006, unveiled today, show that revenues for Thomson Learning grew 2% to $794m and segment operating profit increased 2% to $250 million. Analysts estimate that the sale will fetch around $5bn.