The Wall Street Journal-20080131-Pearson to Sell German FT Stake
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Pearson to Sell German FT Stake
Full Text (306 words)LONDON -- Pearson PLC said it agreed to sell its 50% stake in the Financial Times Deutschland newspaper to a unit of German media giant Bertelsmann AG, as expected.
Bertelsmann, Europe's largest media company in terms of revenue, with magazine, book, television and music operations, owns 75% of publisher Gruner + Jahr, of Hamburg, Germany. G+J will buy out the rest of FT Deutschland from Pearson, its partner in the joint venture. G+J confirmed the deal.
Under the deal, Pearson said it will continue to license the Financial Times brand and FT content to FT Deutschland. Pearson declined to disclose the value of the deal. It said its share of the gross assets in FT Deutschland as of Dec. 31 was about 8 million euros ($11.9 million). Pearson will receive a licensing fee for the content and the FT name.
Selling part of the FT brand marks a big symbolic change for London- based Pearson. The company, which is known for publishing the Financial Times newspaper but which actually counts on its expanding educational-testing and textbook business as well as Penguin books for the bulk of its business, is shedding the last of its non-English- language newspapers. Launched in 2000, FT Deutschland has a circulation of about 105,000 but is unprofitable, people familiar with the matter have said.
"The FT group is increasingly focused on the world-wide expansion of the Financial Times and our digital financial information businesses," said Rona Fairhead, chief executive of Pearson's FT unit, in a statement. "FT Deutschland no longer fits within that strategy, but we are very pleased to have found such a good home for a great newspaper."
The FT group publishes the Financial Times and its online edition ft.com.
Pearson said the FT Deutschland deal is subject to regulatory clearance and is expected to close in the first quarter.
