Pearson to sell Economist group stake for £469m

Publishing group Pearson has agreed to sell its 50% stake in the Economist Group in a £469m deal which will make Italy’s Exor, controlled by the Agnelli dynasty, its biggest shareholder.

The deal comes weeks after Pearson said it was offloading the Financial Times to Japan’s Nikkei for £844m, and will see The Economist move out of its headquarters in a prime location of central London.