Pearson Plc, the publisher of FT, is about to lose two of its top executives, raising speculation the paper could be up for sale.

Analysts value The Financial Times Group at about $1.2 billion, well within the reach of Bloomberg LP, which in 2011 had revenue of $7.6 billion, the paper said. (link.reuters.com/daq54t)

One media banker with knowledge of the company expects the paper to be sold around early next year, the New York Times said.

Factions within Bloomberg LP have argued that it would be smarter to buy a digital property, pointing to the website LinkedIn as an example.

Daniel Doctoroff, a confidant of Bloomberg and the chief executive of the company, is said to be particularly skeptical about the value of buying a newspaper, the paper said.

A spokesman for the mayor declined to comment to the New York Times on his conversations about the Financial Times paper.

A spokesman for Mayor Bloomberg and Pearson Group could not immediately be reached for comment by Reuters outside of regular U.S. business hours.

(This story has been refiled to insert a dropped word in the final paragraph)

(Reporting by Sakthi Prasad in Bangalore; Editing by Jonathan Thatcher)

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