Murdoch Frustrated Over Dow Jones Talks

At a media conference in Sun Valley, Idaho on Wednesday, Rupert Murdoch expressed frustration at the apparent inability of the Bancroft family, Dow Jones's controlling shareholders, to make up their minds about his $5 billion offer. "They keep changing their minds," he said, without elaborating. Murdoch declined to comment on an attempt by Internet entrepreneur Brad Greenspan, a cofounder of MySpace, to assemble an investor group to make a rival bid. MySpace is now owned by Murdoch's News Corp. Together with supermarket mogul Ron Burkle, Greenspan made a presentation Tuesday to the Dow Jones board, but the meeting was only exploratory. According to the WSJ, "it wasn't clear whether a viable alternative to Mr. Murdoch's rich offer of $60 a share would emerge" from it. Neither Greenspan nor Burkle has commented. Dow Jones and News Corp. have agreed to form a committee that would approve the hiring and firing of top Journal editors, but a full proposal for a News Corp. takeover has not yet been presented. Any such proposal would be subject to the approval of the Bancrofts.

Sources: Dow Jones, Wall Street Journal
Commentary: Why Buying Dow Jones Could Be A Money Loser For News Corp. • Burkle and Greenspan Present Alternatives to Murdoch Bid for Dow Jones • Bancroft Trustees Might Hold Final Say on Dow Jones Sale -- WSJ
Stocks/ETFs to watch: Dow Jones & Company Inc. (DJ), News Corp. (NWS). Competitors: Reuters Group PLC [ADR] (RTRSY). ETFs: PowerShares Dynamic Media Portfolio ETF (PBS)
Earnings call transcripts: Dow Jones Q1 2007, News Corporation F3Q07

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