Translated material
Rupert Murdoch is angry
Dow Jones shareholders are trying to find other suitors for the company
Media mogul Rupert Murdoch is irritated by negotiations to sell the group to Dow Jones & Co. with other potential buyers. He said it was unclear to him what position the company's main shareholders took. The Bancroft family, which owns a controlling stake in Dow Jones (the group publishes The Wall Street Journal), continues to consider offers, but analysts say it is unlikely that anyone will be able to pay more than the $5 billion proposed by Mr. Murdoch .For several weeks, the Bancrofts did not give the media tycoon a definite answer, which completely confused him. The Bancrofts allegedly fear that the new owner, Rupert Murdoch's News Corporation, will strip the editorial independence of The Wall Street Journal, the leading US business publication.
Earlier, information appeared in the Western media that Dow Jones had agreed to support its takeover proposal. The parties intended to sign an agreement that would guarantee the independence of The Wall Street Journal journalists. Under the terms of the agreement, News Corp. will have the ability to hire and fire editors and publishers, but an independent five-member committee will be able to veto these decisions. However, then the owners of Dow Jones again began to delay the decision and consider new proposals.
"They change their minds all the time," Mr. Murdock said at the Sun Valley, Idaho, conference site that attracts the world's biggest and most influential media business leaders. Mr. Murdoch did not elaborate on the state of affairs with Dow Jones and declined to comment on the recent attempt to approach Dow Jones by Brad Greenspan, the founder of the MySpace server, which is now owned by Rupert Murdoch's corporation.
Brad Greenspan and Ron Burkle, who made their business careers investing in supermarket chains, met with Dow Jones executives on Tuesday, but the talks were preliminary. It never became clear whether this would be a worthy alternative to Murdoch's serious offer, who is willing to pay $60 for each share of the company.
This price represents an approximately 65% premium to the current market value of the shares. Independent newspaper industry analyst John Morton called Messrs.'s attempt difficult to implement. Burkle and Greenspan to offer a price that could compete with Mr. Murdoch's price. "And if there were other wealthy buyers of Dow Jones, they would have identified themselves by now," Mr. Morton said. “Anyone who is interested in such a deal understands that they cannot sit idly by.”
In early June, Microsoft and NBC thought about acquiring Dow Jones, but after negotiations with the Bancrofts they considered the deal unprofitable. Dow Jones Chief Executive Peter Kann, an opponent of News Corp.'s bid, said he was not particularly encouraged by the search for other buyers. "If the Bancrofts are going to sell the company, there is no point in looking for buyers among industrialists, Internet tycoons, supermarket owners or real estate developers," Mr. Kann said. “None of them know anything about journalism.”
Currently News Corp. owns several Internet portals, newspapers, magazines and television channels, including Fox News, which rivals CNN in popularity. Dow Jones shares fell almost 1% yesterday in New York trading to $57.29.