Wall Street Journal might get an alternative bid to topple Murdoch’s whimsical $5 billion, or $60 per share offer.
According to latest reports, Ron Burkle, the Supermarket billionaire and Web entrepreneur Brad Greenspan, who had prior separately proposed WSJ, are considering an alternative bid for Dow Jones together.
A special committee of Dow Jones directors, which is looking for potential bidder to overcome News Corp.’s bid along with a representative for the Bancroft family, discuss the possibility of the deal with Burkle and Greenspan. But either side didn’t disclose the result.
Market analysts are asserting that it’s difficult to overcome Murdoch’s bid as News Corp.’s hefty offer seems hard to beat. It represented a 65 percent premium when the bid became public.
Dow Jones union president Steve Yount said:
I don’t think anyone is going to be able to match Rupert Murdoch in a total bid
Voice against Murdoch’ proposal is echoing from the beginning as Dow Jones union was arraigning that Murdoch’s intrusion can mar its integrity and independence. In recent weeks, Dow Jones has negotiated with News Corp. to enact provisions for preserving the Journal’s independent journalistic standards.
Amidst all these developments, Dow Jones has remained open to alternative bidders, but no serious offers have emerged yet.
Burkle’s name surfaced last month when a union representing Dow Jones employees began working with him to drum up investors other than Murdoch. But he shows reluctance to give counter bid for WSJ. Whereas Greenspan, the former CEO of Intermix Media Inc., confirmed his interest to buy about 25 percent of Dow Jones stock at $60 a share, the same price Murdoch has offered, now it’s expecting that the web entrepreneur is proposing to purchase half the company with the help of satellite TV carrier EchoStar Communications Corp. and Intel Corp.
Via: Yahoo
