Financial Times Sale to Murdoch, Abu Dhabi Media Group Under Discussion

Media

Published: June 28, 2013 9:00 am

Last Updated: April 27, 2020 9:23 pm

A purchase of the Financial Times is once again being discussed, and the buyers are said to Rupert Murdoch’s News Corp. (NASDAQ: NWSA) and the state-controlled Abu Dhabi Media Group. A report in a Malaysian magazine, The Edge Review, cites “financial executives close to the situation” as its sources for the report.

According to the magazine, the Abu Dhabi group would own 75% of the Financial Times and Murdoch would hold the remaining 25%. The reported purchase price is about $1.2 billion, which was the reported value of the FT Group last October.

The Financial Times is owned by Pearson PLC (NYSE: PSO) and the company has sought a buyer for the paper since the company’s chief executive retired last year. Pearson’s new CEO reportedly is interested in getting out of the print media business. The FT Group also owns 50% of the Economist magazine.

The Malaysian report also claims that Murdoch is seeking an option to purchase another 25% of the Financial Times at some point in the future. News Corp. paid $5 billion for The Wall Street Journal in 2007.

In early January, there was a report that the Financial Times might be sold to a Chinese buyer, but so far that report has not proven out.

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