The Dow Jones rejects Murdoch's unsolicited bid

[AlCzervik]

Source: ABC news

Murdoch's News Corp. Bid for Dow Jones Rejected
Rupert Murdoch's News Corp. Made Unsolicited Bid for Dow Jones

By SCOTT MAYEROWITZ
ABC NEWS Business Unit
May 1, 2007 —


Just hours after Rupert Murdoch's News Corp. made an unsolicited offer Tuesday to buy Dow Jones & Co., publisher of The Wall Street Journal, the family that controls Dow Jones announced that it had rejected the bid.

The Bancroft family controls a little more than 50 percent of the votes at Dow Jones and announced after the stock market closed that it would reject the proposed bid.

The family did not comment on whether or not it would accept any other offer -- from Murdoch or somebody else. The family said only that it was rejecting the current bid.

Throughout the day, the possible sale of the nation's second-largest newspaper worried some.

News Corp. owns Fox News, the New York Post, TV Guide, MySpace and numerous other media outlets along with movie company 20th Century Fox.

The company offered to buy all outstanding Dow Jones stock for $60 a share -- or about $5 billion.

The proposed sale price is significantly higher than the market value of Dow Jones before the offer was made public.

Shares of the media company opened Tuesday morning at $37.12 and jumped to just above $57.28 before trading was temporarily halted. It closed at $56.20. The company had traded between $32 and $40 a share over the last year.

Read more: http://abcnews.go.com/print?id=3105688

[MikeNearMcChord]

1. I guess that upsets the Editorial Page writers

Hell they might as well work for Murdoch.

[AlCzervik]

2. i can only imagine the unholy alliance between the "Fox business" channel and

dow jones, WSJ and Barron's. hopefully the family will hold firm and continue to say no,

[gravity]

3. Murdoch would ruin the Wall Street Journal

The stock owners are going to be pissed off as hell though, since they are turning down a 65% profit.

[AlCzervik]

4. Murdoch ruins ever paper he touches, i can see it now WSJ "Easy to read" format.

[rcdean]

5. A close friend, who just won a Pulitzer for the WSJ, says there is not...

much enthusiasm among his journalistic cohorts for a takeover.

He just flew back to the states for a celebration dinner at the paper that the Bancrofts will probably attend. They may all have more than Pulitzers to celebrate--provided Rupert doesn't make an offer the B's can't refuse.

Wonder how much their stock -- which nearly doubled today -- will drop back down if there are no more Murdoch attempts.