Canadian mortgage billionaire Stephen Smith has agreed to buy a 26.9% stake in The Economist Group. Terms of the deal were not disclosed.

Smith and his family holding company, Smith Financial Corp, will buy the 26.9% stake held by Lynn Forester de Rothschild, her family and her family foundation.

It has been reported that the 26.9% holding in The Economist Group, which includes 20% of voting shares, is worth roughly £402 million.

The transaction is subject to approval by The Economist Group’s four independent trustees and its board of directors.

Smith Financial Corp owns financial businesses, including co-ownership of the influential proxy advisory group Glass Lewis.

A spokesperson for The Economist Group said: “We can confirm that Stephen Smith, together with his family holding company Smith Financial, has entered into an agreement to acquire a 26.9% minority stake in the Economist Group from existing shareholders, Lady Lynn Forester de Rothschild, her family and her family foundation, subject to certain closing conditions.”

The Economist Group has a complicated ownership structure of around 1,000 shareholders including family holdings, existing and former colleagues and their families.

Exor, the investment vehicle of the Agnelli family, owns a 43.4% stake in the group.

No single shareholder — or group of shareholders acting in concert — is able to exercise votes representing more than 20% of total voting rights. In effect, this blocks any effort to gain majority control.

Smith Financial said in a statement: “This investment reflects Mr Smith’s full support for The Economist’s long-standing tradition of rigorous editorial independence and will see The Economist’s strategy and operations continue unaffected.”

Stephen Smith co-founded First National Financial in 1988, four years after he had been made bankrupt, The Financial Times reported.

The mortgage lender was acquired last year by investment groups including Brookfield in a $2 billion deal that saw Smith sell about two-thirds of his 37.4% shareholding.

Stephen Smith also part-owns Canada Guaranty Mortgage Insurance and acquired lender Home Trust in 2023, merging it with Fairstone Bank of Canada in 2025.

The Rothschilds hired Lazard to sell their stake in The Economist last year.

The Economist Group, which includes the Economist Intelligence Unit, reported revenues of £368.5 million in 2025, up from £359.5 million the year before. Operating profit rose to £48.1 million and subscriptions rose 3% to 1.3 million.