Financial Times sold to Japanese firm Nikkei

Japanese financial newspaper Nikkei said Thursday that it is buying Financial Times from U.K. publishing group Pearson PLC for £844 million (€1.2 million) Market Watch reported.

Pearson, who bought the newspaper in 1957,  earlier confirmed it was in advanced talks on the possible sale of the London-based FT Group, which includes the Financial Times newspaper, but the potential buyer was not disclosed.

Nikkei announced the agreement in an email to subscribers Thursday afternoon U.K. time.

Nikkei is one of Japan’s largest publishers with annual sales of about £1bn.

In a statement, Pearson confirmed it had agreed the sale of FT Group to Nikkei Inc. for a gross consideration of £844 million, payable in cash.

Financial Times is one of the world’s leading news organisations, recognised for its authority, integrity and accuracy. It includes the FT newspaper, FT.com, How to Spend It, FT Labs, FTChinese, the Confidentials and Financial Publishing (including The Banker, Investors Chronicle, MandateWire, Money-Media, Medley Global Advisors and more). At the FT, total circulation across print and digital rose more than 30% over the last five years to 737,000, with digital circulation growing to represent 70% of the total, from 24%, and mobile driving almost half of all traffic. Content and services now account for the majority of revenues.

In 2014, FT Group contributed £334m of sales and £24m of adjusted operating income to Pearson. At 30 June 2015, FT Group had gross assets of approximately £250m. The agreement does not include FT Group’s London property at One Southwark Bridge and Pearson’s 50% stake in The Economist Group. The transaction is subject to a number of regulatory approvals and is expected to close during the fourth quarter of 2015.

A contribution will be made to the Pearson group pension plan following closing of the transaction, expected to be around £90m. In addition, Pearson has committed to fund the pension plan to self-sufficiency in the near term. Most of the proceeds from the disposal will be subject to UK Substantial Shareholder Exemption taxation relief but Pearson expects to pay tax on disposal of approximately £60 million. The balance of the proceeds will be used by Pearson for general corporate purposes and investment in its global education strategy.

John Fallon, Pearson’s chief executive, said:

“Pearson has been a proud proprietor of the FT for nearly 60 years. But 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 be 100% focused on our global education strategy. The world of education is changing profoundly and we see huge opportunity to grow our business through increasing access to high quality education globally.

Nikkei has a long and distinguished track record of quality, impartiality and reliability in its journalism and global viewpoint. The Board and I are confident that the FT will continue to flourish under Nikkei’s ownership”.

Tsuneo Kita, Chairman and Group CEO of Nikkei, said:

“I am extremely proud of teaming up with the Financial Times, one of the most prestigious news organizations 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.”

Evercore, Goldman Sachs and J.P. Morgan Cazenove acted as financial adviser to Pearson on this transaction.

Rothschild Group acted as financial advisers to Nikkei on this transaction.