Subsid's Issue of Equity

Pearson PLC
24 October 2000


Not for distribution in the United States, Canada, Australia or Japan.

RECOLETOS SETS PRICE FOR INITIAL PUBLIC OFFERING

Recoletos, the Spanish media group owned by Pearson, has set the price for its
initial public offering at 12 Euros per share.

The offering consists of 7,522,898 new Recoletos shares and 17,952,102
existing shares currently owned by Pearson. After the initial public offering
the total number of Recoletos shares in issue will stand at 130,713,749,
therefore valuing the equity of the company at 1.57 billion Euros. 

The IPO reduces Pearson's stake in Recoletos from 99.4% to 78.9%. If the
underwriters of the offering exercise their option ('Green Shoe') on 2,547,500
further Recoletos shares owned by Pearson, Pearson's stake in Recoletos will
be reduced to 77%. Recoletos shares are expected to begin trading on the
Madrid Stock Exchange at 1200 noon local time on Wednesday 25 October 2000.

Recoletos is one of the leading media groups in the Iberian peninsula. It
publishes Expansion, Spain's pre-eminent financial and business newspaper and
Marca, one of Europe's best-selling sports newspapers. Its online properties
attract some of the biggest audiences in Spain.

'Recoletos is one of Spain's very best media companies,' said Marjorie
Scardino, Pearson's Chief Executive. 'It has the ideas, brands and talent to
capitalise on new technologies and to break into new Spanish and Portuguese
speaking markets. This IPO helps Recoletos to grow more quickly on-line and in
Latin America and enables Pearson to share in the value it creates.'

The Spanish prospectus ('Folleto') was filed with the Comision Nacional del
Mercado de Valores ('CNMV') on 3 October 2000.



More information:       John Fallon/ Luke Swanson       + 44 207 411 2310




Notes to editors:

Recoletos (www.recoletos.es) is one of the leading media groups in the Iberian
peninsula. It publishes Spain's leading financial and business publication,
Expansion (www.expansiondirecto.com) and one of Europe's best-selling sports
newspapers, Marca (www.Marca.es). 

It owns a 30% stake - and plays an active management role - in Unedisa, which
publishes El Mundo (www.elmundo.com), one of Spain's leading newspapers; a 50%
stake in Economica, which publishes Portugal's leading daily financial and
business newspaper; and a 1.86% stake in RTL Group, Europe's leading
integrated broadcasting and content group.

Its newspaper titles including El Mundo sell around 750,000 copies every day;
the company distributes more than 550,000 copies of its weekly and monthly
magazines; and its internet media, including elmundo.es, generated 5.7 million
visits and 89 million page views in June 2000.

Recoletos also owns a stake in Diario Financiero, one of Chile's leading
business and financial newspapers, and has recently acquired El Cronista, one
of Argentina's leading business and financial newspapers.

Pearson plc is an international media company. Its major business operations
are: The Financial Times Group, which has an international network of business
and financial newspapers and online services that are read by millions of
business executives and investors every day; Pearson Education, the world's
leading education business, which helps teachers teach and students learn at
every stage and in every part of the world; Penguin Putnam, which is one of
the pre-eminent names in consumer publishing, with an unrivalled range of
fiction and non-fiction, bestsellers, and classic titles; and Recoletos, one
of the top media companies in Spain. Pearson also owns a 22% stake in the RTL
Group, Europe's leading integrated broadcasting and communications group. One
of Pearson's most recent initiatives is Learning Network, the Internet's
premier education source. For more information, go to www.pearson.com.


The information contained herein is not for publication or distribution to
persons in the United States of America, Canada, Australia or Japan, and does
not constitute an offer of securities for sale in the United States, Canada,
Australia or Japan.  The securities referred to herein have not been and will
not be registered under the US Securities Act of 1933, as amended, and may not
be offered or sold without registration thereunder or pursuant to an available
exemption therefrom.

The materials do not constitute an offer of securities for sale in the United
States; the securities may not be offered or sold in the United States absent
registration or an exemption from registration under the U.S. Securities Act
of 1933, as amended, or in any other jurisdiction other than in compliance
with the laws of that jurisdiction.  There is no intention to register any
portion of the Offering in the United States or to conduct a public offering
of securities in the United States.