Publishing: Pearson sells 50% of the Economist, negotiations with the Agnelli – AGI – Agenzia Journalistic Italy

20:29 July 25, 2015

(AGI) – London, July 25 – After the Financial Times, the Economist.
The publisher Pearson in fact he said to be in talks to sell its share, equal to 50%, Economist. There are talks with other shareholders of the newspaper which includes families Schroder, Cadbury, Rothschild and Agnelli. In the statement released, Pearson announced “it is in talks with the Board of Directors of The Economist for the sale of 50% of the group,” adding that “there is no ‘certainty that the process will lead’ to a transaction.” The Economist has obtained a distribution of 1.6 million copies by the end of 2014 and reported an operating profit of 67 million pounds in June. The announcement comes two days after the sale of the Financial Times group Japanese Nikkei 844 million pounds (1.2 billion euro).

The Agnelli family, which through the financial Exor, holds 5 % of English and head and ‘represented on the board by John Elkann, confirms the interest. Exor S.P.A. one of the main companies ‘investment in Europe, confirmed “to have ongoing negotiations with The Economist Group (” The Economist “or” the Group “), its Trustees and Pearson on the possibility’ to increase its investment in the Group “. “If you proceed with the increase of the investment, – the statement said the company Turin – it would represent in any case a minority stake in the Economist (in which Exor ensures its support of investor since 2009), in confirms the strong commitment of Exor ensure editorial independence which is the basis of the values ​​and the success of The Economist. ”

“At – continues the statement – and there ‘no certainty that the ongoing negotiations will lead to a transaction.” Exor, the statement concluded, “give ‘more information when and if appropriate, depending on the outcome of negotiations.” For now, Pearson did not disclose the names of the potential buyers. According to preliminary estimates 50% of the Economist should be worth between 300 and 400 million pounds. According to some sources, the families who own the other 50% of the weekly would be interested to share but, at the same time, they should first raise the money to acquire the other 50%. The governance of the society ‘which publishes the newspaper states that families have more shareholders’ rights within the Board with respect to Pearson who, in the portfolio, shares of series B. So any change of ownership ‘must’ receive the positive opinion of shareholders of series A which, as mentioned, include the Cadbury family, Rothschild, Agnelli and Schroder, all to guarantee editorial independence of the magazine.