Wall Street Journal unveils global edition

The Wall Street Journal said Thursday it would launch a new global broadsheet edition to replace compact format newspapers for Europe and Asia.

The prestigious business daily owned by Rupert Murdoch's News Corp. said the new edition would launch in September along with "enhanced" applications for mobile devices.

The newspaper will be targeting key financial capital cities, including London, Frankfurt, Hong Kong, Paris and Shanghai.

"The global Wall Street Journal reflects our international ambitions and our desire to deliver a singular Journal experience to readers in the world's most economically important cities," said Gerard Baker, the newspaper's editor in chief.

"The new print, iPad and Android editions will center on our peerless reporting, including our expert coverage of business, finance and economics and our global coverage of politics and policy, as well as our extensive reporting on arts, culture and entertainment."

The launch of the large-format print edition, which would add more content, comes a decade after the Journal trimmed the size of its international editions to save money.

The news comes amid reports the Journal was set to release a paid mobile application in a bid to boost revenues hit by slumping print sales.

The Journal is among the few major dailies with a successful paid digital service, which costs around $30 per month for most US subscribers without print delivery.