Dow Jones Board Okays Sale

The board of Dow Jones has agreed to accept the buyout deal from Rupert Murdoch's News Corp. The matter is now in the hands of the Bancroft family. They still control Dow Jones and appear to be having a family spat over the whole matter, so the outcome is still in doubt.

NEW YORK - The fate of Dow Jones & Co. now rests with the Bancroft family, the company's longtime controlling shareholders, who must decide whether to sell the publisher of The Wall Street Journal to Rupert Murdoch's News Corp., a global media conglomerate that owns Twentieth Century Fox and the Fox News Channel.

The board of Dow Jones said late Tuesday it was ready to sign off on Murdoch's proposal to buy the company for $5 billion. However, the key remains with the Bancroft family, whose three dozen members have been deeply divided over whether to sell to Murdoch. The are expected to meet Monday to discuss the deal.

Dow Jones wound up agreeing to Murdoch's initial offer without a last-minute price increase, as efforts by some board members and a union representing Wall Street Journal reporters failed to come up with viable alternatives to Murdoch's $60-per-share bid, which represents a premium of about 65 percent over where Dow Jones shares were trading before the offer became public in early May.

If the Bancrofts do sink the deal, it would surely result in a sharp drop in Dow Jones shares and the likelihood of shareholder lawsuits.

Actually, the premium Murdoch offered in his bid indicates he is very, very serious about acquiring Dow Jones. This will continue to be interesting. The board must have been satisfied with assurances of editorial and journalist freedom at the WSJ or they would not have signed off.