Final FT Deutschland to appear on Dec. 7

The FTD, salmon pink like its British namesake, launched as a joint venture with Financial Times publisher Pearson in 2000 and shook up the German print landscape with a modern design and international perspective.

But it never made money and finally succumbed to sliding advertising revenues in Germany.

Some 330 employees will lose their jobs, said the sources who are familiar with the decisions of the publisher.

G+J, controlled by German media conglomerate Bertelsmann , has earmarked 40 million euros ($51 million) in closure costs, the sources said.

G+J, which bought out Pearson's 50 percent stake in 2008, declined to comment on details of the plans, although the board had been widely expected to announce the closure on Wednesday.

A spokesman said the supervisory board had given the management board authority to go ahead with a sale, partial sale or closure. Final talks about a sale were in progress and a final decision was due soon.

But one of the sources said that talks were not about a sale of the paper but of its subscriber base of around 41,600.

Workers will be given more information on Friday morning, a spokesman for the publisher later said.

The looming closure is the latest blow for Germany's newspaper industry which had been shielded by its decentralised nature which draws on regional loyalties and the country's relative economic strength in

... contd.