Dow Jones deal could be "over the top"

Richard Perez-Pena and Andrew Ross Sorkin of The New York Times report for Tuesday’s paper that there are enough votes from the Bancroft family that controls Dow Jones & Co., the parent of The Wall Street Journal, to sell it to News Corp. CEO Rupert Murdoch.

They wrote, “Family members and trusts representing more than 30 percent of the shareholder vote — enough to put the deal over the top — indicated to their lawyers that they would support the bid, but some of them had not yet delivered signed commitments and could still back away, according to people briefed on the matter, who asked not to be identified because they were not authorized to discuss it.

“Late last night, bankers on both sides said that the Bancrofts’ chief lawyer, Michael B. Elefante, who was canvassing the family members, still had not given them a precise count of votes committed and those still pending. Some votes appeared to be held up by last-minute negotiations over a side issue — who would pay the fees of the bankers and lawyers advising the family and its various trusts.

“The News Corporation has not said how many firmly committed votes it needs from the family before it will be confident enough in the outcome to proceed; people involved in the negotiations put the minimum figure at 30 to 34 percent of the overall shareholder vote.”

Read more here.