2015.08.12 培生为何出售其在《经济学人》的股份

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BUSINESS
Why Pearson Sold Its Stake in The Economist
The education company wants to focus on its core business.

By Krishnadev Calamur

Hussein Malla / AP
AUGUST 12, 2015
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The British company Pearson announced Wednesday it is selling its 50 percent stake in the company that owns The Economist magazine to the group’s other shareholders for about $730 million. The move comes a month after the education company sold the Financial Times to Japan’s Nikkei newspaper for $1.3 billion.

Pearson’s stake is being bought, in part, by Italian company Exor—the holding company of the Agnelli family, founders of Italian carmaker Fiat. Exor will pay about $446 million for the group’s shares, increasing its stake from 4.7 percent to 43.4 percent, the Italian company said.


The rest of Pearson’s stake will be bought by the Economist Group for $284.7 million.

Pearson’s sale of The Economist allows it to focus on its educational properties, though it still holds a 47 percent stake in Penguin Random House, the publishing firm.

In a statement announcing the sale, John Fallon, Pearson’s chief executive, said the company “is proud to have been a part of The Economist’s success over the past 58 years, and our shareholders have benefited greatly from its growth.”

Rupert Pennant-Rea, the chairman of The Economist Group, said in a separate statement that with Pearson’s decision to sell, “the board’s priority was to secure the independence of the ownership of the Group and the continued editorial independence of The Economist.”

The New York Times adds that Exor’s increased stake will not increase its influence within the group. Here’s more:

That is because of a complicated trust structure that essentially ensures that the Economist Group cannot be taken over by owners eager to impose their own interests.

The London-based Economist Group owns The Economist magazine—which has been published since 1843—as well as the Economist Intelligence Unit, a data arm, and CQ Roll Call.


The group is one of those rare media entities: one that is not only widely respected, but also makes money. Although it is privately held, the company releases its financial record in March. According to its most recent results, the company had an operating profit of about $93.8 million, up 2 percent for the year. The weekly magazine’s circulation was 1.6 million, and the company saw a 13 percent increase in gross profit from circulation.

Krishnadev Calamur is a former senior editor at The Atlantic. He is the author of Murder in Mumbai.



业务
培生为何出售其在《经济学人》的股份
这家教育公司希望专注于其核心业务。

Krishnadev Calamur报道

Hussein Malla / AP
2015年8月12日
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英国培生公司周三宣布，它将把拥有《经济学人》杂志的公司的50%股份以约7.3亿美元的价格出售给该集团的其他股东。此举是在这家教育公司以13亿美元的价格将《金融时报》卖给日本的《日经新闻》之后的一个月。

培生的股份部分被意大利公司Exor收购--意大利汽车制造商菲亚特的创始人阿涅利家族的控股公司。该意大利公司表示，Exor将为该集团的股份支付约4.46亿美元，将其股份从4.7%增加到43.4%。


培生的其余股份将由经济学人集团以2.847亿美元的价格收购。

培生出售《经济学人》使其能够专注于其教育产业，尽管它仍然持有企鹅兰登书屋这一出版公司47%的股份。

培生集团首席执行官约翰-法伦在宣布出售的声明中说，该公司 "很自豪在过去58年中参与了《经济学人》的成功，我们的股东从其成长中受益匪浅"。

经济学人集团主席Rupert Pennant-Rea在一份单独的声明中说，对于培生的出售决定，"董事会的首要任务是确保集团所有权的独立性和《经济学人》的持续编辑独立性"。

纽约时报》补充说，Exor增加的股份不会增加其在集团内的影响力。这里有更多。

这是因为一个复杂的信托结构从根本上保证了经济学人集团不会被急于强加自己利益的所有者所接管。

总部设在伦敦的经济学人集团拥有《经济学人》杂志--该杂志自1843年以来一直在出版--以及经济学人信息部（一个数据部门）和CQ Roll Call。


该集团是罕见的媒体实体之一：不仅受到广泛尊重，而且还能赚钱。虽然它是私有的，但该公司在3月份发布其财务记录。根据其最近的业绩，该公司的营业利润约为9380万美元，全年增长2%。该周刊的发行量为160万份，公司的发行毛利增长了13%。

克里希纳德夫-卡拉穆尔是《大西洋》杂志的前高级编辑。他是《孟买谋杀案》的作者。