UNITED STATES
SECURITIES AND EXCHANGE COMMISSION
Washington, D.C. 20549
FORM 6-K
REPORT OF FOREIGN PRIVATE ISSUER
PURSUANT TO RULE 13a-16 OR 15d-16 UNDER
THE SECURITIES EXCHANGE ACT OF 1934
For the month of October, 2008
PEARSON plc
(Exact name of registrant as specified in its charter)
N/A
(Translation of registrant's name into English)
80 Strand
London, England WC2R 0RL
44-20-7010-2000
(Address of principal executive office)
Indicate by check mark whether the Registrant files or will file annual reports
under cover of Form 20-F or Form 40-F:
Form 20-F
X
Form 40-F
Indicate by check mark whether the Registrant by furnishing
the information
contained in this Form is also thereby furnishing
the information to the
Commission pursuant to Rule 12g3-2(b) under the Securities Exchange Act of 1934
Yes
No X
This Report includes the following documents:
1. A press release from Pearson plc announcing Pearson to Increase Stake in Maskew
Miller Longman
PEARSON TO INCREASE STAKE IN MASKEW MILLER
LONGMAN
:
Steps up investment in education
in
Africa
Pearson, the international education and media
company, today announces that it has agreed to increase its stake in Maskew Miller
Longman (MML), and to bring together its education companies in the region into a
new organisation, Pearson Southern Africa.
MML is one of South Africa's leading educational
publishers and is currently 50% owned by Pearson and 50% owned by Caxton and CTP
Publishers and Printers Ltd. MML serves the school, higher education, professional
and adult education markets in South Africa and 10 countries in southern, central
and east Africa. MML publishes across the school curriculum and in over 50
languages. Maskew Miller was founded in 1893 in
Cape Town
and merged with Pearson's Longman
South
Africa
to form MML in 1983.
Under the terms of the agreement, which is subject
to regulatory approval, Pearson would increase its stake in MML to 85%. In return,
Caxton would receive a consideration of £45.5 million in cash and a 15% stake
in the newly-created Pearson Southern Africa.
Pearson Southern Africa would consist
of
Maskew Miller Longman, Heinemann
South
Africa
and
Heinemann Botswana
, publishers for the school, higher education and
vocational markets, and the South African operations of
Edexcel
, Pearson's international academic and vocational
assessment and qualifications company.
South Africa
recently completed a major school curriculum
reform and is now focused on ensuring that these reforms lead to higher levels of
educational achievement across all sectors of the community, especially in literacy
and numeracy. The country is also reforming the further education and training
sector, with the aim of improving work-related skills and increasing participation
in higher education.
Across
Southern Africa
, there is rapid growth in participation in all
levels of education. The UN's Millennium Development Goals, agreed in 2000, include
a commitment to free and universal primary education by 2015. According to the
Commission for Africa, the proportion of children in primary school in sub-Saharan
Africa increased by 48% between 1990 and 2001, in turn increasing demand for
secondary and vocational education, but there are still 40 million primary-age
children who are out of school.
UNESCO estimates that the region will need 1.6
million new teachers - an increase of more than two-thirds - to meet the commitment
to universal primary education.
Pearson is the world's leading education publishing
and services company, with significant expertise and resources in educational
content, technology, assessment and related services. Pearson believes that this
combination of its education companies in southern
Africa
would significantly enhance its ability to
support educators, teachers and students throughout the region. Pearson intends to
increase its investment in the region, building new services in critical areas of
educational need including teacher development, student assessment and professional
and vocational learning.
Fathima Dada, the current executive chairman of
Maskew Miller Longman, would be the chief executive of Pearson Southern
Africa.
In recent years both MML and Heinemann have made
good progress in implementing a range of BEE (Black Economic Empowerment)
initiatives relating to management, employment equity, skills development,
procurement, enterprise and socio-economic development. Pearson will build on this
progress and plans to engage with a BEE equity partner focusing on deepening links
with the world of education.
"Effective education will be central
to
South Africa
's continued economic and social progress, and
we are committed to playing our part,"
said John Fallon, chief executive officer of
International Education at Pearson.
"This is the latest in a series of investments
we are making to create
Africa
's leading education enterprise, developing the
very best local talent and expertise and applying Pearson's worldwide resources. It
will enable us to do much more to help people across
Africa
to make progress in their lives through
education.
Over the last 25 years our partnership with
Caxton has proved very successful; we are pleased that they will continue to be
involved in the future growth of this newly expanded organisation."
Pearson is also the owner of Penguin books, which
has been publishing South African authors since 1989; the
Financial Times
newspaper, printed in South Africa since
2002; and 50% of BDFM, publishers of Business Day, the Financial Mail and Summit
Television. Pearson is a leading education company across Africa, and in August
announced the acquisition of an additional 22% stake in Longman
Nigeria
, taking its ownership to a controlling 51% stake,
subject to regulatory approval.
Luke Swanson/ Simon Mays-Smith/ Charles Goldsmith
+44(0)20 7010 2310
Daniel Thole, Rob Pinker and
Marina Bidoli, Brunswick Group
+27 11 502 7300
SIGNATURE
Pursuant to the requirements of the Securities Exchange
Act of 1934, the registrant has duly caused this
report to be signed on its behalf by the undersigned, thereunto
duly authorized.
PEARSON plc
Date: 23 October, 2008
By: /s/ STEPHEN JONES
-----------------------
Stephen Jones
Deputy Secretary