Wednesday, August 1, 2007
News Corporation has succeeded in purchasing the Dow Jones & Company, the 125-year-old financial information firm and publisher of The Wall Street Journal in a three month long US$5 billion takeover bid. Rupert Murdoch is the chairman and chief executive officer of News Corporation.
The Bancroft family, which owns 64.2% of the Dow Jones’ voting power met Tuesday and finalized the deal amid opposition from some key members who were fearful that Journal’s reputation and content would be altered. Last week, the board of the Dow Jones approved the sale, a $60-a-share bid which represents a 67% premium above Dow Jones’s share price at the time of the offer. Yesterday, the News Corp. board gathered and gave the thumbs up for the acquisition, leaving only the Bancrofts to decide on the outcome.
Dow Jones, which also owns Barron’s Magazine, has been owned by the Bancroft family since 1902.
Murdoch announced News Corporation’s bid in May, and has maintained his company’s position because of the lack of rivals. A Bancroft representative had approached other potential buyers, including billionaires Warren Buffett and Bill Gates, who both declined.
To address concerns that the Journal will be negatively altered, Murdoch plans to add four new pages of coverage, and has agreed to form a committee to decide on hiring or firing any editors.
News Corp. owns and operates dozens of large media companies, including the Fox News and British Sky Broadcasting television networks, newspapers The New York Post, The Australian, and The Sun, magazines TV Guide and The Weekly Standard, as well as internet assets such as Myspace and Photobucket.