Rupert Murdoch’s News Corp has finally sealed a $5bn agreement to purchase Dow Jones, publisher of The Wall Street Journal, after three months of drama in the controlling Bancroft family and much public debate, reports the Journal. After tense meetings this week, Bancroft family members holding 37.4 per cent of Dow Jones’ voting power, more than half the family’s voting stake of 64.2 per cent, backed Mr Murdoch’s $60-a-share offer. Combined with the 29 per cent of Dow Jones’s voting stock held by public shareholders, Mr Murdoch can probably comfortably win a full shareholder vote, the Journal says. Lex says the negotiation was “a mismatch of arch-dealmaker against a group of amateurs”, who, if more astute, could have coaxed an even better price from Mr Murdoch. Separately, an FT timeline shows Mr Murdoch’s long, long journey from The Adelaide News.
