A lot of virtual ink has been spilled on the topic of Rupert Murdoch's attempts to romance Dow Jones & Company and its cornerstone publication, The Wall Street Journal. But a coalition is coming together to form a new bidder on the block which may be able to rival the 5B George Washingtons which Murdoch has been waving at Dow stockholders.
Wall Street Journal itself reported that another group of potential buyers, if not making direct eye contact, were discussing a possible bid for the iconic media company. Pearson PLC, publisher of Financial Times, and General Electric are the possible bidders. They are considering an offering which would take the company private and keep the Bancroft family on board with a minority stake. Thus far the Bancrofts have been balking at the idea of letting Murdoch have the company.
If the deal comes to fruition, it would combine the Journal and Dow Jones products with FT and with GE's CNBC. Pearson has many other financial news products, including Barron's, half of magazine Economist and numerous business newspapers abroad.
SmartMedia observation: It's not much of an auction with only one vocal person in the audience, so this must be very welcome news at Dow Jones. Nothing like another serious bidder to get a stockholder's blood flowing.
