It seems General Electric Co. has found a willing partner in Pearson plc,
publisher of the pink-sheet paper the Financial Times, to entertain a bid for
Dow Jones, publisher of The Wall Street Journal, according to various media
reports including the FT and WSJ. The owner of cable news channels CNBC and
MSNBC reportedly had
approached
MSNBC minority-owner Microsoft Corp. about a bid, but it was rebuffed.
Evidently, Microsoft has better things to do with its $40 billion in cash,
like investing $12.3 million in a Chinese TV maker. As for the Pearson joint
bid, it reportedly would combine the FT, Dow Jones and CNBC in a privately
held joint venture that would be owned in equal parts by GE and Pearson, with
Dow Jones' controlling shareholders, the Bancroft family, keeping a minority
stake. However, the talks are at an early stage, so no word yet on whether the
JV would start publishing the Journal on pink paper, should it beat Rupert
Murdoch's $5 billion bid. —Matthew Wurtzel
See
story from Financial Times
See
story from TheDeal.com
See
earlier post from Dealscape
See
Murdoch Dealwatch
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