Financial Times says parent company Pearson in talks to sell Economist

“In terms of the businesses that we actively manage and lead on a daily basis, everything in that category will now be 100 percent related to education”, Fallon stressed. It’s early days of course but for once the FT is making its own headlines.

Elkann now serves on the Economist Group’s board.

It is unlikely that any offer to buy out Pearson would reflect the same rich multiple that Nikkei agreed to pay Pearson for the Financial Times on Thursday. Bloomberg competes with the FT to provide news and financial information. “Together, we will strive to contribute to the development of the global economy”.

The sale of its frequently coveted Economist stake was widely expected to follow, with one media executive telling the Guardian that the publisher was “the real prize”. Perhaps they can ensure the journalistic independence of The Economist Groups better than Pearson can. Now the FT Group is trumping both.

The 39-year-old is increasingly focussed on investments in media and financial services, as he looks to move the Agnelli family away from its industrialised past and into the tertiary sector of the economy. “As that opportunity has crystallised, it’s become clear to me and the Pearson board that the scale of the challenge requires our undivided attention”. “It presents the FT with a great opportunity too – to reach more readers than ever before, in new and exciting ways”.

In terms of global and digital, Nikkei barely qualifies.

The FT made online subscriptions work when many were and are still struggling, successfully leveraging its unique content and expertise to carve out a superior editorial and commercial proposition.

Tsuneo Kita, chair and panel ceo of Nikkei, referred to as FT, “one of the very good newscast entities inside the world”.

Pearson noted that it will make further announcements if and when appropriate.

People familiar with the matter said, however, that the group of families and staff and former staff that own the remaining 50 percent are talking to Pearson but need to raise cash to fund the deal.

Incongruously for a title associated with dapper London bankers, within Pearson the sale effort was code-named “Falstaff”, for the portly, hard-drinking Shakespearean buffoon. The newspaper’s editorial and business divisions are known for their strong Asia focus.