‘Financial Times’ sold for $1.3 billion
Publisher of Japan’s largest business newspaper expands reach globally with $1.3B deal
Japanese publisher Nikkei agreed Thursday to buy the Fi
nancial Times for $1.3 billion, a deal struck by the paper’s parent, Pearson, as it seeks to exit the print advertising-dependent business and focus on its larger education unit.
For Nikkei, which traces its roots to 1876 and operates Japan’s largest business newspaper, the acquisition expands its reach globally with a highly respected brand and provides access to the
FT’s more advanced know-how in retaining digital readers.
The price paid by Nikkei raised eyebrows among media industry watchers. It far exceeds the $250 million paid by Amazon founder Jeff Bezos in 2013 for The Wash
ington Post. That same year, The
Boston Globe was sold for $70 million. The New York Times Co.’s market capitalization totals about $2.2 billion as of Thursday.
The deal to buy the FT Group, a Pearson unit that publishes the salmon-colored financial newspaper, doesn’t include Pearson’s 50% stake in The Economist Group or its London property. The deal will likely be completed in the fourth quarter.
“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,” Pearson CEO John Fallon said in a statement. “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.”
FT Group had 24 million pounds of operating profit in 2014, or about $37.3 million. Sales totaled about 334 million pounds, or $519 million.
“We share the same journalistic values,” Nikkei Group CEO Tsuneo Kita said. “Together, we will strive to contribute to the development of the global economy.”
The Financial Times, which has a heavy emphasis on markets, business, politics and international news, is arguably Pearson’s best-known brand. Like other newspapers, it has struggled to maintain print circulation and advertising sales. But the FT has been an industry leader in finding revenue online and has sought to expand paying readership by charging for content.
It now claims about 720,000 in total circulation, including about 500,000 digital subscribers.