Categories: OLD Media Moves

GE, Pearson discussing bid for Dow Jones

News Corp. CEO Rupert Murdoch may yet have a competing bid for Dow Jones & Co., the parent of The Wall Street Journal, according to a story for Monday’s Journal.

Sarah Ellison, Dennis Berman and Kathryn Kranhold wrote, “General Electric Co. and Financial Times publisher Pearson PLC are in talks about making a joint bid for Dow Jones that would allow the family to keep a minority interest.

“Under one scenario that has been discussed, GE’s CNBC business channel, the Financial Times and Dow Jones would be combined into a privately held joint venture, according to people familiar with the matter. The venture would be owned in equal parts by GE and Pearson, with the Bancroft family holding a minority stake.”

The Journal also reported that one family member said the Bancrofts have agreed they would give serious consideration to an offer that was lower than the $60 per share on offer from News Corp if they felt the buyer could better protect the Wall Street Journal’s integrity.

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Chris Roush

Chris Roush was the dean of the School of Communications at Quinnipiac University in Hamden, Connecticut. He was previously Walter E. Hussman Sr. Distinguished Professor in business journalism at UNC-Chapel Hill. He is a former business journalist for Bloomberg News, Businessweek, The Atlanta Journal-Constitution, The Tampa Tribune and the Sarasota Herald-Tribune. He is the author of the leading business reporting textbook "Show me the Money: Writing Business and Economics Stories for Mass Communication" and "Thinking Things Over," a biography of former Wall Street Journal editor Vermont Royster.