Working alongside lead counsel Skadden, Arps, Slate, Meagher & Flom LLP, Travers Smith LLP has advised Japanese media group Nikkei on certain important aspects of its acquisition of the Financial Times from Pearson in a deal valued at £884 million.

The transaction marks the biggest acquisition by a Japanese media organization and has seen Nikkei beat off competition from Germany’s leading digital publisher Axel Springer.

Nikkei is Asia's largest independent business media group. With 42 affiliated companies the group business spreads to publishing, broadcasting, events, database services and index business. Its flagship daily newspaper, The Nikkei, which provides extensive coverage of Japan's economy, industry and markets, is regarded as the must-read paper for Japanese professionals, reaching over 3 million readers.

Established in 1888, the Financial Times is one of the world’s leading business news organisations, providing essential news, comment and analysis for the global business community. The FT has a combined paid print and digital circulation of 737,000.

Working with lead counsel Skadden, Arps, Slate, Meagher & Flom LLP, Travers Smith provided English law advice on the transaction including:

    * Pensions (led by partner Philip Stear and associate Helen Rowan),
    * Employee incentives (led by partner Mahesh Varia and associate Kevin Donegan),
    * IP and technology (led by partner Dan Reavill and associate James Longster) and
    * Real estate (led by senior counsel Emma Pereira and associate Lily Humphries)

Rothschild Group acted as financial advisers to Nikkei.

Pearson and the FT were represented by Freshfields, as their legal advisers, and Goldman Sachs and JP Morgan Cazenove, as their financial advisers on the transaction.