A majority of Dow Jones & Co. board members lean toward selling the parent company of The Wall Street Journal and Barron’s to News Corp. for $5 billion, according to a story on the paper’s web site by Sarah Ellison, Matthew Karnitschnig and Dennis Berman.
They wrote, “Their backing would send the offer to the Bancroft family, which controls the majority voting shares of the company, for a final vote. A board endorsement would pressure the Bancrofts to back a sale but wouldn’t obligate family members — who have been divided over the bid — to do so.
“Heading into the meeting, Dow Jones and advisers to the family saw approval as too close to call, said people familiar with the situation. Family advisers estimated that they would need less than half of the family’s voting power — or about 30% of the total voting power in the company — to win approval of a deal, because they expected a high number of nonfamily holders would support the transaction.
“Board approval would show that directors are ready to approve a deal that contains no 11th-hour bump in price. Family members and company executives were hoping to extract a few extra dollars from the $60-a-share originally offered by News Corp. Chairman and Chief Executive Rupert Murdoch, but none was forthcoming at this stage. Pushback from the family could produce a slightly higher offer in the very final stages or — some fear, cause Mr. Murdoch to lose patience or even walk away.”
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