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Dow Jones a Done Deal

TSC Staff

Rupert Murdoch got his paper.

Months after his initial bid for Dow Jones (DJ Quote), Murdoch's News Corp.(NWS Quote) emerged the triumphant new owner of the prized Wall Street Journal.

Members of the Bancroft family finally agreed to sell Dow Jones for $60 a share, or $5 billion, according to The Wall Street Journal late Tuesday.

The two companies are expected to sign an agreement and issue statements in coming hours, reports said.

The boards of both companies have approved the deal, according to people familiar with the situation, with the Bancrofts supporting it with roughly 37% of the overall voting stock, or more than half of the family's total voting stake of 64.2%, the Journal said in its online edition.

The Bancroft family has controlled Dow Jones since 1902.

Nonfamily shareholders own 29% of voting shares and were expected to support the deal.

The Journal, citing unnamed sources, said that a former holdout, representing 9.1% of voting shares, had reversed its position and supported the deal.

The family, which controls shareholder votes through assorted trusts, had been divided about the takeover, with some opposing members wanting more money and some wanting guarantees that editorial standards at the Journal would be upheld.

After hours, Dow Jones shares were recently up 47 cents to $57.85; News Corp. shares gained 15 cents to $22.81.

On Monday, the paper reported that had the family members, the controlling shareholders of Dow Jones, failed to emerge with more support, News Corp. would have been "highly unlikely" to proceed with the bid, the Journal.

Also Monday, Brad Greenspan, MySpace founder sent an open letter to Dow Jones shareholders about his revised plan to buy the company.

In mid-July, Dow Jones board member Dieter von Holtzbrinck quit, and a majority of Dow Jones' directors recently voted in favor accepting News Corp.'s offer; however, seat holders and family members Christopher Bancroft and Leslie Hill abstained from voting, in a move that amounted to a "no" vote.