LONDON — The Economist Group could become the latest British media business to undergo a change of ownership this year as its co-owner Pearson focuses on education, bankers and industry sources said. The Financial Times reports that its parent company, Pearson PLC, is in talks to sell its 50 percent stake in the Economist magazine. The report says the talks involve other shareholders in the Economist Group. The FT said Saturday its report is based on people familiar with the negotiations. It did not indicate a sale is imminent. Pearson is in the process of selling the FT Group, including the newspaper, to the Nikkei Group of Japan. The deal was announced Thursday. The company has said it wants to focus on its education business. Pearson acquired its stake in the Economist in 1957 as part of its acquisition of the FT. The paper says a sale of the Pearson stake would have to be approved by the Economist Group trustees. The company, whose weekly magazine was first published in 1843, is partly held by Pearson via the Financial Times, which is now in the process of being sold to Japan's Nikkei. But Pearson has retained control of its 50 percent stake in The Economist Group despite pledges to exit the news industry and fully focus on education. The remaining 50 percent of the Economist Group is controlled by a series of wealthy families and The Economist's staff and former staff. The Cadbury family in Britain is among the individual owners of the media group and controls A shares, which have greater voting rights than Pearson, which holds B shares. Other individual owners include the Rothschild, Schroder and Agnelli families, who also own A shares. Any change of control would require an overall consensus among the A shareholders, Bernstein analyst Claudio Aspesi told Reuters on Friday. The families are unlikely to back any plans by Pearson to sell its 50 percent stake to third parties as they see The Economist as a core asset, several industry bankers said. In fact the A shareholders may try to buy out Pearson in order to strengthen their grip on the business, they said. To finance the deal, which could be worth more than 300 million pounds ($465.15 million), some individual shareholders may need to raise cash, the bankers said. Pearson and The Economist declined to comment. The Cadbury, Rothschild, Schroder and Agnelli families were not immediately available for comment. Aspesi estimated a 50 percent stake in The Economist Group to be worth between 300 and 400 million pounds, based on a multiple of 15 times its net income of 46 million pounds.— Agencies
