Financial Times to be sold to Japanese media

London, July 24: Pearson, the British publisher, has said that it will be selling off its flagship business daily, Financial Times, to Japanese media-Nekkei.

The FT group, including the FT.com, will be sold off for a whopping £844 million ($1.31 billion) in cash. The stake, however, does not include in FT Group's 50% share in the Economist Group, which is the owner of the Economist magazine.

Nikkei describes itself as the largest independent business media in Asia. The group also owns the salmon pink-paged newspaper. Nikkei was established in 1876 and is considered Japan's largest economic newspaper. It's acquisition of the Financial Times will widen its viewership online.

Pearson CEO John Fallon said in a statement,"Pearson has been a proud proprietor of the FT for nearly 60 years. But we've reached an inflection point in media, driven by the explosive growth of mobile and social. In this new environment, the best way to ensure the FT's journalistic and commercial success is for it to be part of a global, digital news company."

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