Pearson’s 58-year ownership of the FT Group ended in high drama on Thursday as the Japanese media group Nikkei trumped its rival with an eleventh-hour bid. “It went down to the last 10 minutes,” said one person close to the talks.

Axel Springer, the German media group, had victory in its sights early in the day after a long courtship of the UK-based news group. But it ended up being beaten to the prize by Nikkei, Japan’s largest media company, which only began exploring an offer for the Financial Times five weeks ago.

Led by chief executive Mathias D?pfner, Axel Springer had been in talks with the FT Group since last year about a minority investment in the group. The discussions evolved into outright takeover discussions over the past several weeks, according to people close to the matter.