Staff at the paper had opposed the €240m (£167m) cash deal, arguing that there were inadequate guarantees of editorial independence.
There were also concerns that Bernard Arnault’s ownership of LVMH could create conflicts of interest for the paper because of his commercial activities.
The sale follows the ruling by the Tribunal de Grande Instance in Paris which concluded “that Pearson’s consultation process with the Works Council of Les Echos has been satisfactorily completed”.
Pearson and LVMH expect to complete the transaction towards the end of the year. In 2006, Groupe Les Echos contributed €126m of sales and €10m of operating profit to Pearson.
Pearson said that the agreement includes a series of measures to protect editorial independence and jobs at Les Echos, which were first published on 23 July 2007.
Groupe Les Echos includes business newspaper Les Echos; lesechos.fr, a business media website; Enjeux, a business magazine; and other specialist financial information services.
In October, Pearson announced that its that for the first nine months of 2007, underlying sales were 6% higher and operating profits 20% higher than in the same period last year (see Pearson Operating Profits Up 20%).
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