Pearson Sells Financial Times To Japan's Nikkei

Pearson acquired the Financial Times in 1957

Financial Times owner Pearson has agreed to sell the newspaper to Japan's Nikkei for £844m ($1.3bn), the companies said.

The deal does not include the FT Group's headquarters in London or its 50% stake in The Economist magazine.
Pearson had been exploring the possible sale of the FT for weeks, the newspaper reported on its website.
Those previously mentioned as potential buyers included the German group Axel Springer, as well as Bloomberg, Thomson Reuters and Buzzfeed, which denied any interest.
Pearson had owned the FT for nearly 60 years.

The headquarters of the Financial Times newspaper in London

But the group's chief executive, John Fallon, said: "We’ve reached an inflection point in media, driven by the explosive growth of mobile and social.
"In this new environment, the best way to ensure the FT’s journalistic and commercial success is for it to be part of a global, digital news company."
Pearson will now focus on its global education strategy, Mr Fallon said in a statement.
The group also holds a significant stake in the Penguin Random House publisher.
Nikkei is the largest independent business media group in Asia, with flagship newspaper Nikkei as its core.
Chairman and CEO Tsuneo Kita said he was "extremely proud" to team with "one of the most prestigious news organisations in the world".
He said Nikkei shared the same journalistic values as the FT.
"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," Mr Kita said.
The FT Group contributed £334m of sales and £24m of adjusted operating income last year, Pearson said.
Pearson's shares were up 2.5% at 3.50pm after the deal was announced.