Pearson boss will go if buyout fails

MEDIA group Pearson is preparing to replace Stephen Hill as chief executive of the Financial Times Group if his plans for a management buyout of the division's UK business magazines fail.

Hill stepped aside as chief executive in February to lead a buyout bid for FT Business, which includes Investors Chronicle, The Banker and Money Management magazines.

They are expected to be sold for up to £90 million. Hill stepped down on the understanding that he would return as chief executive if his bid, backed by Permira private equity group, failed. He kept his role as chairman of Pearson's asset-pricing business, Interactive Data Corp.

But it is now understood that Pearson is unlikely to reappoint Hill as chief executive of FT Group and will replace him with managing director Olivier Fleurot, who is responsible for the newspaper and the FT website.

Pearson's willingness to continue employing an executive as senior as Hill while he is bidding to buy part of its business, and its decision to allow him back if his bid fails, has caused internal unrest.

It has also prompted criticism that the company and its chairman, Lord Stevenson, have allowed Hill's ambitions to take precedence over shareholders' interests.

A Pearson executive said: 'Hill is aiming to make a lot of money with this business, which he should be doing for us anyway.

'He can't have it both ways - he's either in or out.'