Publishing group Pearson is to sell the FT Group to Japanese media firm Nikkei for £844m.
The sale, which comes after “advanced discussions” on Thursday, will see Nikkei take on the Financial Times; however, it will exclude the group’s 50% stake in the Economist as well as the FT’s London headquarters.
Commenting on the sale, Pearson’s chief executive, John Fallon, said: “We’ve reached inflection point in media, driven by the explosive growth of mobile and social.
“In this new environment, the best way to ensure the FT success is to be part of a global, digital news company.”
Fallon added that Pearson will now be “100% focused” on its global education strategy.
Pearson specialises in educational publishing and has owned the Financial Times for almost 60 years.
Nikkei, which was established in 1876, has more than 3,000 staff and 36 offices around the world. It is one of Japan’s largest media companies spanning newspapers, broadcasting, magazines and digital media. Its flagship newspaper, The Nikkei, specialises in financial news.
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FT Group reported revenues of £1.15bn in 2014 and the Financial Times has a print circulation of 214,256 – a fairly stable figure in the declining print market. It has around 4.5m registered users online and around 600,000 paying users.
In 2014, FT Group contributed £334m of sales and £24m of adjusted operating income to Pearson. As of 30 June 2015, FT Group had gross assets of approximately £250m.
Tsuneo Kita, chairman and Group CEO of Nikkei, added: “I am extremely proud of teaming up with the Financial Times, one of the most prestigious news organisations in the world. Our motto of providing high-quality reporting on economic and other news, while maintaining fairness and impartiality, is very close to that of the FT.
“We share the same journalistic values. Together, we will strive to contribute to the development of the global economy.”
The transaction is subject to a number of regulatory approvals and is expected to close during the fourth quarter of 2015.
