Shares in Dow Jones fell 5.31 per cent on Monday to $51.56, significantly below the $60-per-share offer from Rupert Murdoch’s News Corp, amid uncertainty about whether the company’s controlling Bancroft family would back a sale, reports the FT. Hemenway and Barnes, Boston-based trustees for the Bancrofts, told the family to vote on the News Corp $5bn offer by Monday 5pm Eastern Time, but the Wall Street Journal reports that the deadline “came and went”. News Corp said Monday that, based on reports that family members representing 28 per cent of Dow Jones’s voting shares had signalled support as of Sunday, it was “highly unlikely” Mr Murdoch would proceed unless there was more support. News Corp’s board is to meet at 4pm EST Tuesday to decide whether to seek a full Dow Jones shareholder vote on the deal, and Dow Jones’s board plans to meet at 7pm EST, says the Journal. Reuters, meanwhile, reports that internet entrepreneur Brad Greenspan said he had the support of five investor groups interested in buying a stake in Dow Jones.

This entry was posted by Gwen Robinson on Tuesday, July 31st, 2007 at 5:54 and is filed under Capital markets, M&A, People. Tagged with Brad Greenspan, dow jones, news corp, rupert murdoch. Edit this entry.