The Wall Street Journal and the Financial Times said on their Web sites that General Electric (GE) and Pearson Plc are looking seriously at making a bid to challenge News Corp.'s $5 billion bid for Dow Jones & Co. (DJ).
On the Financial Times site, which is published by Pearson, it said one of the considerations being mulled over are to have the Bancroft family keep a 20 percent stake in Dow Jones.
The Wall Street Journal added that within the scenario being talked about, Dow Jones, FT and CNBC would be integrated into a private held joint venture. GE nad Pearson would be equal partners, and the Bancrofts would be 10 percent to 20 percent holders in the new company, depending on whether the two companies took a 40 or 45 percent stake in the new venture.
During all of these potential deals, another major concern, besides the "editorial integrity" issue, is the tax consequences on the side of the Bancrofts. It looks like under the terms of this potential deal, the family members could either sell their stakes, or be allowed to roll their shares of Dow Jones stock over into the new company, which would of course eliminate a large tax penalty.
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» General Electric, Pearson Plc Mulling "Dow Jones" Bid from BizzBites.com
The Wall Street Journal and the Financial Times said on their Web sites that General Electric and Pearson Plc are looking seriously at making a bid to challenge News Corp.'s $5 billion bid for Dow Jones & Co. [Read More]
Tracked on: June 18, 2007 3:46 PM | Permalink to Trackback