Pearson to sell 50% Economist stake for 469m pounds

[LONDON] Britain's Pearson, fresh from agreeing the sale of the Financial Times newspaper to Japan's Nikkei, said on Wednesday it would sell its 50 per cent stake in the Economist Group for 469 million pounds (S$103.3 million) to its existing investors.

Pearson said in a statement it had agreed to sell 27.8 per cent of the Economist Group's shares to Exor, the holding of the Agnelli family, for 227.5 million pounds and all of the B special shares for 59.5 million pounds.

Pearson's remaining ordinary shares will be repurchased by The Economist Group for a total consideration of 182 million pounds.

REUTERS