Dow Jones shares shed 5.3% to close at $51.56 Monday on concerns that the controlling Bancroft family will nix News Corp.'s proposed $5 billion takeover of the company. Late in the day, however, the sides appeared to approach agreement. Dow Jones has 
proposed that News Corp. sway holdouts by paying fees of about $30 million that have accrued to firms advising the Bancrofts. News Corp. would assume that liability provided one of two family "no" votes, either Christopher Bancroft or the so-called Denver trusts, agree to the deal. As of late Monday, neither had agreed, although Bancrofts holding 29% of the vote appear to be supporting the sale. Murdoch needs approximately 30% of the family's votes to clinch, since the vast majority of the 29% stake held by common stockholders is expected to be cast in favor. The News Corp. board of directors will meet Tuesday at 5:00 pm to decide whether or not to proceed in the face of such a slim margin of error. The Dow Jones board will meet at 7:00 pm. Meanwhile, MySpace cofounder Brad Greenspan, who hopes to scupper the News Corp. deal, said he has identified five investor groups who would be interested in taking a stake in Dow Jones. They are Intel Capital, Apex Partners, Jana Partners, a unit of Softbank Corp. and Trafelet.
Sources: Wall Street Journal, Bloomberg, Reuters, Business Week, Forbes
Commentary: Bancrofts Continue to Wrangle on Murdoch Bid • Bancroft Decision on Murdoch Bid Too Close to Call • At Long Last, Dow Jones And News Corp. Reach (Possible) Deal
Stocks/ETFs to watch: DJ, NWS. Competitors: RTRSY. ETFs: PBS
Earnings call transcripts: Dow Jones Q2 2007, News Corporation F3Q07
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