London/Paris, July 23 (Agencies): Japanese media group Nikkei agreed on Thursday to buy the Financial Times from Britain's Pearson in a $1.3-billion deal that brings together two leading financial news operations from Europe and Asia.

The deal marks the biggest acquisition by a Japanese media organisation and is a coup for Nikkei, an employee-owned firm which also lends its name to the main Japanese stock market index.

The Nikkei newspaper, which has a circulation surpassing 3 million for its morning edition alone, enjoys a must-read reputation for financial and business news in Japan but has struggled to break out of its home market.

"I am extremely proud of teaming up with the Financial Times, one of the most prestigious news organisations in the world," said Tsuneo Kita, chairman and group CEO of Nikkei. "We share the same journalistic values."

Analysts and bankers had for years been waiting for Pearson to sell the trophy asset, although the names most closely linked with a deal were Bloomberg and Thomson Reuters.

Pearson has reshaped the Financial Times business in recent years and its new leadership toned down its longtime devotion to print.

Still, the announcement capped a day of drama in the media world. After Pearson announced that it had entered talks with an unspecified buyer, speculation had focused on Axel Springer, a German publisher.

As the news broke of the Nikkei deal, an FT journalist tweeted a photograph showing staff in the newsroom crowded around a television watching the developments. FT editor Lionel Barber said on Twitter he would address the staff shortly.

The sale of FT Group, which is expected to close during the fourth quarter of 2015, does not include its 50 per cent stake in The Economist magazine nor the London headquarters of the newspaper on the banks of the Thames.

In a joint statement, Pearson said it believed the time was right for the FT, which was first printed on pink paper in 1893 to stand out from rival titles, to be part of a global, digital news company. It had owned the paper for nearly 60 years.

Analysts welcomed the deal. "It is hard to argue with the price," said Richard Marwood, senior fund manager at AXA Investment Managers, a shareholder in Pearson.

Nikkei publishes Japan's dominant business newspaper. It has an editorial partnership with the Financial Times, whereby Nikkei distributes its content and translated FT articles appearing the Nikkei.

Japanese newspapers have large circulations; the more general news Yomiuri Shimbun has the highest circulation in the world. That gives the newspapers a lot of cash flow, but with Japan's shrinking population and the shift away from newspaper reading among younger people, there is little prospect for organic growth at home.

One indication of the company's international ambitions was its launch of the Nikkei Asian Review, an English-language magazine and website, in 2013.

The Financial Times has a combined paid print and digital circulation of 690,000, according to the company. FT Group also holds a 50 per cent stake in The Economist magazine. Other group properties include FTChinese, Medley Global Advisors, Financial Publishing, FT Labs, New York Institute of Finance and ExecSense.

Pearson describes itself as "the world's largest education company". It employs 40,000 people in more than 70 countries, and it had sales last year of about $7.64 billion.