PSO Pearson Plc

By Tapan Panchal 

LONDON-- Pearson PLC has agreed to sell its 50% stake in The Economist Group, the publisher of the Economist, for GBP469 million ($730.62 million), the company's latest move to focus on education.

Pearson said Wednesday it would sell 27.8% of Economist Group's ordinary shares and all of the B special shares to Italy's Exor SpA for GBP287 million. The rest of its ordinary shares in the publisher will be repurchased by the Economist Group for GBP182 million.

The disposal follows Pearson's recent sale of the FT Group, which includes the Financial Times newspaper, to Nikkei Inc. of Japan for GBP844 million.

Write to Tapan Panchal at Tapan.Panchal@wsj.com

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