Murdoch Seals $5.6B Deal to Buy WSJ Publisher Dow Jones

Agreement Bolsters Fox Business Network

By Steve Donohue & Mike Farrell -- Multichannel News, 8/1/2007 2:29:00 AM

News Corp. signed a $5.6 billion deal to acquire The Wall Street Journal publisher Dow Jones, the companies announced early Wednesday morning. The agreement gives News Corp. chairman Rupert Murdoch and his Fox News Channel a key asset that will help to boost programming for its Fox Business Network, which is set to launch to 30 million cable and satellite subscribers in October.

“I think [the acquisition] will help [Fox Business Network],” Murdoch said during an interview with Fox News anchor Neil Cavuto Tuesday night. “We just want to have a business channel that lives up to the quality and tradition of The Wall Street Journal. If we can do that, it [the channel] will do very well.”

Asked about an agreement that runs through 2012 that Dow Jones has with CNBC -- which sees Journal reporters appear during on-air reports on CNBC -- Murdoch suggested that the agreement wouldn’t prevent Fox Business from using WSJ talent.

“There are a lot of other things in The Journal ... we think there’s plenty of room for all of us to work together,” Murdoch said.

Under the terms of the deal, Dow Jones stockholders will get $60 in cash for each share of common stock that they own. The companies said certain members of the Bancroft family and the trustees of trusts for their benefit who collectively own approximately 37% of Dow Jones' voting stock agreed to vote to approve the transaction.

News Corp. and Dow Jones also said they agreed on the terms of an editorial agreement that provides for the establishment of a five-member, special committee with the objective of assuring the continued journalistic and editorial integrity and independence of Dow Jones' publications and services.

Shares of Dow Jones rose 11.8%, or $5.87 per share, to $57.43 in early trading Tuesday, as news broke that a deal was closer to reality.