Freshfields Bruckhaus Deringer is advising Pearson on the sale of its 50% stake in The Economist group for a total consideration of £469 million

Existing co-shareholder Exor has agreed to purchase 27.8% of The Economist group’s ordinary shares and all of the B shares from Pearson for consideration of £287 million. Pearson’s remaining ordinary shares will be repurchased by the Economist group in two tranches for consideration of £182 million. The transaction, which is subject to regulatory approvals and the approval of the Economist’s shareholders and independent trustees, is expected to complete during Q4 2015.

The Economist is one of the world’s leading weekly international news and business publications, offering reporting, commentary and analysis on world current affairs, business, finance, science and technology, culture, society, media and the arts. Other publications and services delivered under the Economist brand include Economist.com, the Economist Intelligence Unit, The Economist Events, The Economist Corporate Network, The World In... and Intelligent Life.

The Freshfields team is being led by Oliver Lazenby and Simon Marchant alongside associate Jodie Owen. Other members of the team included Ziyad Nassif, Paul Davison, Faye Coates, Sam Withnall, Alastair Chapman, Sorcha O’Carroll and David Gallagher.

The same Freshfields team most recently acted for Pearson on its sale of the Financial Times group to Nikkei, which was announced in July, as well as previously on its disposal of Mergermarket. They also advised Pearson on the joint venture between Penguin and Random House.