Opinion | Exclusive: Financial Times shops for China buyer
The querying of potential Chinese buyers for Pearson's Financial Times reflects the tough outlook for western print media, though chances of a Chinese deal are very slim.
But what I find most intriguing is the fact that Pearson might even consider selling one of its crown jewels to a Chinese buyer, which perhaps reflects just how difficult the market has become for print publications that once ruled the global media market. Pearson's advisers looking in China also highlights the fact that Chinese media are one of the few global groups in the sector that is relatively cash rich, since many of the nation's biggest media groups have near-monopoly status in their local markets and often have highly diverse holdings that run the range from print, to broadcasting and new media assets.
My guess is that this sniffing around for interest from China indicates that any Bloomberg talks have either stalled, or perhaps Pearson's advisers are trying to start up a bidding war. According to my source, his company, one of China's top media groups, was recently approached by third-party consultants acting on Pearson's behalf to see if they had any interest in a potential bid for the Financial Times.
The fact that Pearson would even consider such a Chinese buyer is highly unusual, since Chinese media are all state owned at some level, and all practise a form of state-mandated self censorship that is regularly condemned by the west. But these are not ordinary times, and in fact Pearson may realise that the Financial Times may not have long before it follows in the footsteps of other formerly famous publications like BusinessWeek and Newsweek, both of which were essentially "sold" for very little after they suffered big drops in readership and their profits evaporated.
In that kind of environment, there probably aren't too many western buyers out there who would want to pay a premium for the Financial Times, which is what Pearson would like. So, what exactly are the chances of a Chinese buyer stepping forward to buy the newspaper, and who might such a buyer be?