Canadian billionaire acquires 27% stake in The Economist

Canadian billionaire Stephen Smith has agreed to acquire more than a quarter of The Economist Group, reports Daniel Thomas and Ivan Levingston of The Financial Times.

Thomas and Levingston write, “Smith’s family holding company, Smith Financial, is to acquire a 26.9 per cent stake in the group from Forester de Rothschild, her family and her family foundation.

“‘This investment reflects Mr Smith’s full support for The Economist’s longstanding tradition of rigorous editorial independence and will see The Economist’s strategy and operations continue unaffected,’ Smith Financial said in a statement.

“The Economist, which was first published in 1843, confirmed the agreement over the sale, which remains subject to trustee and board approval. The terms of the deal were not disclosed.

“Acquiring the stake marks Smith’s first large media investment. He co-founded First National Financial in 1988, just four years after he had been made bankrupt. The mortgage lender was acquired last year by investment groups including Brookfield in a C$2.9bn ($2.1bn) deal that saw Smith sell about two-thirds of his 37.4 per cent shareholding.”

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