Candy brothers want to buy the Financial Times

If you thought the Candy brothers, the men behind Knightsbridge’s One Hyde Park apartments, are all about expensive property then you’re wrong.

The duo reportedly want to buy The Financial Times (FT) and have approached current owner Pearson to negotiate a deal.

City bankers think the newspaper could fetch up to £790m, The Times has reported.

According to The Times’ sources, buying up the paper would be a good property deal for the Candys as the newspaper’s South Bank HQ can be converted into luxury flats.

Mukesh Ambani, India’s richest man and chairman of Reliance Industries, also reportedly contacted Pearson to buy the FT. However, Pearson turned down the offer.

A Pearson spokesman said: “We do not comment on speculation about our portfolio.”

Pearson’s former chief executive Dame Marjorie Scardino was dead against selling the FT. However, current CEO John Fallon told The Times in an interview that the board “constantly reassesses whether Pearson is the best possible owner” for the FT.

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