News Corp. Gets the Votes in Dow Jones Bid
By Jon Hemingway -- Broadcasting & Cable, 7/30/2007 8:14:00 PM MT
News Corp. secured enough of the Bancroft family vote to proceed with its $5 billion takeover of Dow Jones, according to a report from The Wall Street Journal.
The financial newspaper, whose parent is Dow Jones, is reporting that News Corp. now has support from Bancroft family members representing 38% of the voting power in Dow Jones. Combined with the 29% from public shareholders, it would be enough to allow News Corp. to gain control of the company.
The Bancroft family has 64.2% of the overall voting shares in the company.
Approval of the deal would end a three month struggle between News Corp. Chairman Rupert Murdoch and members of Dow’s controlling family that were trying to squeeze out a higher bid. But News Corp. did not budge; the current $60-a-share price represents the original offer.
The acquisition will be key for News Corp., which is planning to launch a new cable television business news channel in October, the Fox Business Network. The backing of the Dow Jones/WSJ editorial stable will give the channel instant legitimacy as it takes on incumbents CNBC and Bloomberg. However, Dow Jones has a content-sharing deal with business news network CNBC running through 2012, setting up a potential confrontation.
News Corp.’s board is meeting this afternoon at 4 p.m. and the Dow Jones board is scheduled to meet tonight.
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