Acquisition

RNS Number : 8863A

Pearson PLC

07 August 2008

 



7 August  2008

PEARSON INCREASES STAKE IN NIGERIA'S LEADING EDUCATION PUBLISHER 

Pearson, the international education and information company, today announces the acquisition of an additional 22% stake in Longman Nigeria, taking its ownership to a controlling 51% stake, subject to regulatory approval.

Longman Nigeria is a leading educational publisher in Nigeria, the largest country in Africa with a population of more than 140m (of which more than 35m are in full time education). Longman Nigeria has particular strength in English, maths and science, employs 235 people and has 10 branches and warehouses throughout the country. It had gross assets of £7.3m in 2007.

Pearson is the world's leading education publishing and services company, with 2007 sales of more than $3bn in North America and $1.9bn in other parts of the world. The acquisition allows Pearson to play an active role in the fast growing Nigerian education market, combining Longman Nigeria's experienced management team and local presence with Pearson's global scale and education publishing and technology expertise.

John Fallon, chief executive of Pearson International Education, said: " We've sustained our involvement in Longman Nigeria for many years and are very pleased to be playing a bigger role in its future growth. Education has a vital role to play in Nigeria's continuing economic development. We will continue to invest in providing high quality textbooks and look to broaden our role into areas such as assessment and testing, teacher training and support and the application of technology to learning."

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For more information:

Luke Swanson/ Simon Mays-Smith/ Charles Goldsmith  [phone]

 

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