Gazprom, the Russian state-controlled oil and gas giant, held talks about mounting a rival $5bn-plus offer for Dow Jones, publisher of The Wall Street Journal, to see off the bid from News Corp, reports The Times. A regulatory filing with the SEC revealed that Dow Jones had received several other solicited and unsolicited approaches besides News Corp’s $60-a-share bid. One of the approaches, on July 10, was from “an international oil and gas company”, which a source later confirmed was Gazprom. The news highlights Gazprom’s and Russia’s global ambitions.
