Some members of the Bancroft family, who own 32 percent of the voting shares in Dow Jones & Co., have accepted the offer from newspaper magnate Rupert Murdoch to sell the company for a price of five billion dollars, reported on its website “The Wall Journal”, a business daily owned by the company.
The Bancroft family, which owns a total of about 64 percent of the voting shares in Dow Jones & Co., has been divided over the sale since May, and the consent of the owners of 32 percent, or half of those shares, is likely to be sufficient to finalize the sale agreement based on the offer from News Corp., of which Murdoch is the owner and chairman, WSJ reports, citing unnamed sources. "The Bancroft family has accepted. Dow Jones will be part of News Corp.", said John Prestbo, editor and executive director of Dow Jones Index, to reporters in Chicago. Following the news of the likely sale of the company, shares of Dow Jones & Co. on the New York Stock Exchange jumped by 12 percent, or by 6.34 dollars, to 57.90 dollars. Murdoch offered the Bancrofts 60 dollars per share in May. Some family members opposed the sale, expressing concern that Murdoch could jeopardize the editorial independence of the influential "The Wall Street Journal", while others were simply seeking a better price. (H)
