Pearson sells FT Deutschland stake
By Erina Lin, Wednesday 30 January 2008 at 21:15 :: Media Ownership :: #1176 :: rss
Pearson confirmed Wednesday it will sell its 50 percent stake in Financial Times Deutschland to its joint venture partner Gruner + Jahr, a subsidiary of German media group Bertelsmann.
The transaction is expected to close in the first quarter of this year, and will leave Gruner + Jahr in full control of the German business paper, Media Guardian reported.
This also includes arrangements for the FT to license brand and content to FT Deutschland.
FT Deutschland was set up by Pearson and Bertelesmann in 2000, aimed to compete against Germany's leading financial daily Handelsblatt. The title has a daily circulation of around 105,000.
According to Pearson, its share of gross assets of FT Deutschland was approximately €8m (£6m) at the end of December 2007.
The move continues Pearson's withdrawal from foreign-language newspapers in Europe. In 2007, Pearson exited from the Spanish and French markets. It sold French business paper Les Echos, and thus focused on developing FT as a global brand, Media Guardian reported.
However, Pearson is keeping its stake in Russian business title Vedomosti, where one of its partners is Dow Jones, the competitor which is now part of News Corporation.
According to Rona Fairhead, the chief executive of the Financial Times Group, “The company was increasingly focused on the worldwide expansion of the Financial Times and our digital financial information businesses. FT Deutschland no longer fits within that strategy, but we are very pleased to have found such a good home for a great newspaper," Media Guardian reported.
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