Shareholders of Dow Jones & Co. gave final approval Thursday to a $5-billion US bid from Rupert Murdoch's News Corp. to acquire the media company, the final step needed before one of the world's most influential newspapers, the Wall Street Journal, changes hands.
The controlling shareholders of Dow Jones, the widely dispersed Bancroft family, had initially rebuffed Murdoch's approach this spring, but eventually enough of them agreed to accept his rich offer of $60 US a share to ensure his bid would succeed.
Dow Jones held the shareholder vote in a hotel in the financial district of lower Manhattan, near its headquarters. The formal closing of the deal is expected to occur either later Thursday or Friday.
The Bancroft family was long seen as unified in opposition to selling, and at first rebuffed Murdoch's extremely rich offer, but Murdoch was able to win over enough family members to ensure that his bid would be approved in a shareholder vote.
Murdoch's bid of $60 US per share represented a massive premium of 65 per cent over the price Dow Jones shares had been trading at before his offer became public. Newspaper shares other than Dow Jones have declined sharply this year on deepening concerns about declining revenues as advertising dollars move to the internet.
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