Bancrofts Warm to Murdoch's Offer

BANCROFTS WARM TO MURDOCH'S OFFER
[SOURCE: Washington Post, AUTHOR: Frank Ahrens]
If Rupert Murdoch can assure the family owners of Dow Jones that he will not meddle in the news coverage of the Wall Street Journal, the family will tell the company's board of directors it can start negotiating a sale price with the media mogul. A slim majority of the Bancroft family, which has controlling ownership of Dow Jones, which publishes the Journal, rejected Murdoch's $5 billion offer for the company about a month ago, one day after the offer was made public. Since then, however, market conditions and Murdoch's own appeals have helped the sometimes-fractious family see the merits of the bid. As early as today, the 35-member, three-generation Bancroft family plans to send a proposal to Murdoch's News Corp. that outlines requirements for a buffer guaranteeing that the Pulitzer Prize-winning Journal could continue to conduct reporting that is sometimes critical of Murdoch's media empire and business interests.
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/06/12/AR2007061202087.html
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