News Corporation Bids for Dow Jones
This article is from the archive of The New York Sun before the launch of its new website in 2022. The Sun has neither altered nor updated such articles but will seek to correct any errors, mis-categorizations or other problems introduced during transfer.
NEW YORK (AP) – Dow Jones & Co., publisher of The Wall Street Journal, said Tuesday it has received an unsolicited bid from Rupert Murdoch’s News Corp. to buy the company for $60 per share, or $5 billion.
Shares of the financial news publishing company soared after the cable news channel CNBC reported news of the offer earlier Tuesday.
After opening at $37.12, the shares jumped $20.95, or 58 percent, to $57.28 before being halted on the New York Stock Exchange for news pending. They had traded in a 52-week range of $32.16 to $40.08 before Tuesday’s news.
Dow Jones said in a brief statement that its board had received the proposal from News Corp. to buy the company with either cash or a combination of cash and News Corp. stock.
Dow Jones is controlled by the Bancroft family through a special class of shares and cannot be taken over without their consent. The company said in its statement that its board and members of the Bancroft family were evaluating the proposal, and that there was no assurance it would lead to a transaction.
Spokesmen for Dow Jones, News Corp. and the Bancroft family did not immediately return calls seeking additional comment.
Like other newspaper publishers, Dow Jones’ shares have been beaten down over the past few years amid sluggish advertising and as more readers and advertising dollars move to the Internet.
