Pearson PLC, publisher of the Financial Times, is trying to rally partners for a possible bid to rival Rupert Murdoch’s $5 billion offer for Wall Street Journal publisher Dow Jones & Co., the Journal reported Friday.

Pearson, based in the United Kingdom, has approached media company Hearst Corp. as well as General Electric Co. about a possible joint offer, the Journal reported, citing unnamed people familiar with the matter.

Pearson PLC is the former owner of Pearson Government Solutions, now known as Vangent, a private company that owns and operates a data center in the East Hills Business Park.