LONDON
U.K. media group Pearson announced Thursday it is in "advanced discussions" to sell the London-based Financial Times newspaper.
Pearson communication executive Hannah Hawkins told Anadolu Agency that there is no certainty that the discussions will result in a sale, “but Pearson has confirmed that it is in advanced discussions for the potential disposal of the FT group”.
Negotiations over the sale of the Financial Times, regarded as one of world’s most influential business-news organizations, allegedly started earlier in the week. British media report that the FT may be sold for $1.6 billion.
According to a statement from the daily in July last year, its combined subscribers -- print and online -- reached 677,000, surging 13 percent year-on-year.
In addition, almost two-thirds of combined subscribers (455,000) come from digital, up one third from the previous year, indicating that the daily has the ability to deal with the increasing trend of digitalization which classic print copy newspapers find hard to grasp or make money on.
The daily also has a portfolio of corporate subscribers which is more than 290,000.
