The British newspaper Financial Times media holding sold to the Japanese Nikkei. Together with the publication of the Japanese moves and shares owned by the Financial Times Russian business newspaper “Vedomosti”. The cost of the transaction amounted to $ 1.32 billion. The British media group Pearson, the current owner of FT, is going to concentrate on the main profitable business – the issue of educational literature.
The Japanese Nikkei Corporation has agreed to buy the British financial magazine Financial Times . The transaction value amounts to £ 844 million ($ 1.32 billion), reported in the current owner FT Group – Pearson PLC. The agreement covers the paper newspaper, the Financial Times and website publications The Banker and Investors Chronicle, but does not include the London real estate owned by FT Group, and 50 per cent stake in the publication of The Economist.
The transaction also will affect the share of the Financial Times Russian business newspaper “Vedomosti”. FT is a co-founder of “Vedomosti” and owns 33.3% of the shares of publication.
It is expected that the closing of the transaction will occur in the fourth quarter of 2015.
The Financial Times has been published since 1888. Then she placed all four sheets of newspaper. In 1893, the publishers have come up with a distinctive feature for the newspaper – print it on a gray-pink sheets, this practice continues to this day. In 1957, the media group Pearson acquired the Financial Times, in 1995, launched the website.
The average daily number of readers of the Financial Times the world is about 2.2 million people. Circulation in 2014 amounted to more than 700 thousand. Copies. The number of paid internet subscribers is over 500 thousand. Man. At the end of 2014 Financial Times circulation has increased by 10% to 720 thousand. Copies.
Financial Times Group is not a major revenue generating business for the holding. More than 70% of the proceeds media holding Pearson brings an educational segment. And the strategy of further development of the company requires a focus on this area. Executive Director John Pearson Fallon said that amid the rapid growth of mobile and social resources, “the best way to ensure journalistic and commercial success FT – is to make it part of a global digital news company,” reports the words of one of Fallon’s main competitors FT – US business publication The Wall Street Journal.
In February, Pearson reported a fall in net profit for 2014 to £ 470 million ($ 734 million) compared to £ 538 million a year earlier.
Adjusted operating profit before restructuring costs decreased by 5% to £ 720 million. Sales fell 4% to £ 4,87 billion, in line with market forecasts, while revenues in the most lucrative for the publication of the region, North America, decreased by 3%.
The rumors of a possible sale of Financial Times went on the media market for many years. Possible buyers at the time and called the American Bloomberg, and Thompson Reuters. The starting point for finding a new owner was the departure of former CEO Marjorie Scardino Pearson, who headed the holding company for more than 16 years. She has repeatedly stated that it considers necessary to preserve the Financial Times the holding. But after the departure of Scardino in its place came John Fallon, who previously headed the unit responsible for the production of educational literature.
To get one of the leading business publications in the world wanted and the German holding company Axel Springer.
The fact that the negotiations with him, reported at the end of July this year, the very publication of Financial Times, it was noted that the German holding talks progressed much further than Japanese competitors.
A few hours after the news came the official information about what the Japanese Nikkei become the next owner of the Financial Times.
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