Categories: OLD Media Moves

Pearson sells stake in The Economist for $730 million

Pearson  agreed on Wednesday to sell its 50 percent stake in the Economist Group, the publisher of The Economist, to its other existing shareholders for $730 million, reports Mark Scott of The New York Times.

Scott writes, “The move comes as Pearson, which sold The Financial Times last month, is trying to streamline its operations to focus primarily on its core education and assessment businesses.

“The biggest participant in the Economist Group transaction will be Exor, the Agnelli family’s Italian holding company and a major shareholder in Fiat Chrysler Automobiles.

“Exor, which already holds a stake of almost 5 percent in the Economist Group, will pay 286.5 million pounds, or about $446 million, for a combination of 27.8 percent of the Economist Group’s so-called ordinary shares and all of the company’s ‘B’ shares.

“The Economist Group will buy the remainder of Pearson’s ordinary shares for £182 million. The ordinary shares can be owned by employees, past employees and founding members of the company.”

Read more here.

Chris Roush

Chris Roush was the dean of the School of Communications at Quinnipiac University in Hamden, Connecticut. He was previously Walter E. Hussman Sr. Distinguished Professor in business journalism at UNC-Chapel Hill. He is a former business journalist for Bloomberg News, Businessweek, The Atlanta Journal-Constitution, The Tampa Tribune and the Sarasota Herald-Tribune. He is the author of the leading business reporting textbook "Show me the Money: Writing Business and Economics Stories for Mass Communication" and "Thinking Things Over," a biography of former Wall Street Journal editor Vermont Royster.

Recent Posts

PCWorld executive editor Ung dies at 58

PCWorld executive editor Gordon Mah Ung, a tireless journalist we once described as a founding father…

7 hours ago

CNBC taps Sullivan as “Power Lunch” co-anchor

CNBC senior vice president Dan Colarusso sent out the following on Monday: Before this year comes to…

1 day ago

Business Insider hires Brooks as standards editor

Business Insider editor in chief Jamie Heller sent out the following on Monday: I'm excited to share…

1 day ago

Is this the end of CoinDesk as we know it?

Former CoinDesk editorial staffer Michael McSweeney writes about the recent happenings at the cryptocurrency news site, where…

2 days ago

LinkedIn finance editor Singh departs

Manas Pratap Singh, finance editor for LinkedIn News Europe, has left for a new opportunity…

3 days ago

Washington Post announces start of third newsroom

Washington Post executive editor Matt Murray sent out the following on Friday: Dear All, Over the last…

4 days ago