Like many Japanese companies, Nikkei Inc.is looking overseas for growth in the face of a stagnant economy and shrinking population at home, a move accelerated for the 139-year-old business newspaper by the globalization of media and competitive pressures as readers shift online.
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Shares in Pearson plc have rocketed since the publishing company confirmed its sale of the FT Group to Japanese media company Nikkei for £844 million.
The deal is subject to regulatory approvals.
The sales doesn’t include Pearson’s 50% stake in the Economist Group and some London property, Pearson said Thursday.
Pearson said circulation at the FT – founded in 1888 – had grown by 30% over the past five years to 737,000.
In a joint statement, Pearson said that it believed the time was right for the FT, which was first printed on pink paper in 1893 to stand out from rival titles, to be part of a global, digital news company.
Under the terms of the deal, Nikkei, which is the largest independent business media group in Asia, will pay a commercial rent for the FT’s building once the takeover is finalised at the end of the year.
Pearson is selling off its news publication in order to focus exclusively on its educational publishing. “We are not thinking of making the FT do the same as us editorially”, Okada said. “I am confident that working together with our new proprietor will ensure that it remains so”.
Pearson had owned the FT for almost 60 years.
Pearson will contribute $139.8 million (£90m) to its group pension plan.
Reporters at the paper said there was some apprehension, as they knew very little about their new owner, but there was also relief they had not been bought by Bloomberg LP – another potential buyer – which could have resulted in duplication of staff roles and more potential job cuts. “The new education products and services we’re developing which will enable far more people of all ages to discover the joy of learning and progress in their careers”. After Pearson announced that it had entered talks with an unspecified buyer, speculation had focused on Axel Springer, a German publisher.
Pearson was advised by JPMorgan Chase, Evercore Partners, Goldman Sachs and the law firm Freshfields. It acts as an operating holding company with its flagship newspaper Nikkei as a core.
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The group has sold off other news interests such as Mergermarket and French business newspaper “Les Echos” in recent years.
