May
3
Murdoch Set to Woo Bancroft Family
Here's the NYT's Dealbook on what Rupert Murdoch must do to win The Wall Street Journal:
And now for the charm offensive.That is the course Rupert Murdoch is expected to pursue after the board of Dow Jones & Company, which publishes The Wall Street Journal, said late Wednesday that it would "take no action" on his $5 billion bid for the company because the Bancroft family, its controlling shareholder, opposed the offer. The board's brief statement contained a wealth of subtext, because it did not reject the offer outright and appeared to leave room for Mr. Murdoch to try to work his powers of persuasion on the Bancroft family.
The family, which bought The Wall Street Journal and the Dow Jones news service in 1902, seems deeply divided -- and therein in may lie the opportunity for Mr. Murdoch, the head of the media conglomerate News Corporation. Earlier this week, the family indicated that it would vote shares representing 52 percent of the voting power at Dow Jones against the transaction.
Floyd Norris of The New York Times estimates that about 40 percent of the Bancroft family, as measured by votes, have not agreed to reject Mr. Murdoch's offer. The Financial Times's Lex column, noting the fragmented ownership of Dow Jones's supervoting shares and the slim majority opposed to the bid, suggests that Mr. Murdoch "probably has to convince just a few big Bancroft holders to win."
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