Pearson, the international media company that owns The Economist and the Financial Times, has stopped the sale of FT Business, its financial magazines group, after advanced negotiations with private equity investors failed to produce a price that Pearson considered acceptable.

A spokesman for Pearson said: "Pearson received many expressions of interest in FT Business and, as a result, retained Lazard to advise it on strategic options for the company. Pearson has now concluded that FT Business is worth more as part of the FT Group than potential bidders were prepared to pay."