Following today‘s announcement by Dow Jones & Co., Inc. and News Corporation that they have entered into a definitive merger agreement to combine the two companies, a spokesperson for the Bancroft family issued the following statement:
The process of thoroughly reviewing a broad range of possible alternatives for Dow Jones has been long, complex and arduous. After much soul-searching, hard work and analysis by Bancroft family members, trustees and advisors, shares held by family members and trustees representing approximately 37 percent of the Company’s voting power have been committed to support the News Corporation transaction.
All the members of the Bancroft family, wherever each came out on the News Corporation proposal, share a deep love for Dow Jones, its people, its publications and its brands.
It is our most fervent hope that in the years to come, The Wall Street Journal will continue to enjoy, and deserve, the universal admiration and respect in which it is held all over the world, and that the Journal and Dow Jones’s other print and online publications will continue to achieve great things as part of a larger, well-capitalized, global organization committed to upholding the long tradition of journalistic excellence, independence and editorial integrity of which we are all so proud.
Merrill Lynch & Co. acted as financial advisor to the Bancroft family, and Wachtell, Lipton, Rosen & Katz provided legal counsel to the Bancroft family.
References herein to the Bancroft family are to various individual family members and trusts for the benefit of family members. Ultimate voting and dispositive power with respect to the shares of Dow Jones held or controlled by such individuals and trusts resides with those individuals and the trustees of the trusts.