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There's one thing that people trying to make deals always fear, and that is there is no feedback or questions that arise from a presentation. It looks like the deal for Dow Jones & Company (DJ) has no fears along those lines.

Once the floundering Bancroft family put the board in charge of negoatiations, things have started to move quickly forward. It has of course not come without some precarious circumstances.

After Rupert Murdoch and News Corp. (NWS-A) received the latest draft of "editorial independence" conditions from the board, they almost walked out of negotiations because they didn't contain any forward momentum or meaningful changes. The company had drafted a withdrawal that they were going to send the board before an executive from News Corp. talked to a Dow Jones board advisor, and were able to come to the conclusion that they could negotiate.

All that's really left to negotiate now is what type of oversight board will be created, and the final price the company will sell for. While the price is far beyond the company's worth, there is probably some room for increase there to cement the deal.

News Corp. won't buy the company unless they get control, which is the real battle going on here.

The response of News Corp. to what Rupert Murdoch called "an insulting" offer, was to have a 16-member committee, who would be appointed by News Corp. Out of those members, five would have to be agreed upon by both Dow Jones and News Corp. Replacement members would be presented by News Corp. while being approved by the five independent members. Dow Jones had wanted the committee to appoint their own successors.

The inclusion of the publisher and managing editor were also removed from the document in News Corp. response. The Dow Jones plan had called for the seven-member board to have the power to hire or fire the Wall Street Journal's managing editor, the newspaper's publisher, The Journal's editorial page and the managing editor of Dow Jones Newswires. Not only that, but those currently in those positions will have to be allowed to stay at the company. That's obviously not going to happen.

While this does look like it's getting very close to becoming a done deal, the unknown response of the controlling Bancroft family is still the determining factor in whether it will go through - if they don't approve, it won't be done.

One way or another, this isn't going to go on much longer. Either there will be concessions on the part of the Bancrofts concerning retaining control, or the deal will be dropped by News Corp.

Related Coverage:

Latest Plan by Bancrofts Shows Board may be Just Rubber Stamp for Them

Dow Jones Board Drafting "Editorial Independence" Statement - Will Murdoch Accept?

General Electric and Pearson PLC Drop out of Dow Jones Sweepstakes

Bancrofts Out of the Dow Jones Negotiations - Board Takes Over

General Electric, Pearson PLC Consortium to Buy Dow Jones Already Under Fire

Bancrofts Said to be Readying Proposal for Special Board

Another Dow Jones Suitor Bites the Dust

More Suitors for Dow Jones than Men Saying They were Father of Anna Nicole Smith's Baby

Brian Tierney Interested in Dow Jones

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