According to a report in The Times this morning, a proposal has been sent from the FT Group to Pearson that could lead to Pearson reducing its stake in the paper.
The review comes against the backdrop of a hard-hit financial advertising market. Earlier this week, Wall Street Journal publisher Dow Jones & Co reported second-quarter earnings down a hefty 43%, which it largely attributed to the collapse in advertising at its flagship Wall Street Journal.
The joint venture between the two is currently 50:50, but it is thought that Pearson could halve its stake to just 25%. It is seen as highly unlikely that it will sell all of its stake to G+J, unwilling as it would be to allow another publisher to own an FT-branded product.
The Times reports that the plans to examine the future of the publication are part of an annual review at Pearson and no decision has yet been taken on the future of FT Deutschland.
Including bulk sales, the paper currently sells just 90,000 copies a day compared with the FT in the UK, which has a circulation of 463,160.
FT Deutschland is sold not only in Germany, but also in German-speaking Austria and Switzerland. When it launched, it was the first national newspaper to launch in Germany for more than 20 years and was edited by the current FT editor Andrew Gower. It marked the first time the Financial Times name appeared on a newspaper in a language other than English.
Later this year, Pearson is planning to launch Financial Times Asia, which is to be edited by FT stalwart John Ridding.
If you have an opinion on this or any other issue raised on Brand Republic, join the debate in the .
_1.jpg)
.jpg)
