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There’s around a half-hour left to what’s nominally the deadline for the Bancrofts to approve a sale of Dow Jones, their family media company and the publisher of The Wall Street Journal, to Rupert Murdoch’s News Corporation. So what’s going happen? The short answer: No one knows. The Denver trusts are still holding out for more money, and now some of the Boston lawyers who act as trustees might feel that way, too. Rupert says he won’t offer more. Jane Cox MacElree, a family matriarch, is still against a deal, but she resigned from some of the trusts she heads because their beneficiaries are in favor. Family lawyers are trying to restructure one of the trusts Christopher Bancroft oversees, because he’s against the deal and will vote the shares in opposition, even though some of the beneficiaries of that trust support it. The Times says that it’s possible this whole thing will go into tomorrow or beyond, deadline notwithstanding. (“How long does it take to make a vote?” a fund manager asks in a CNN/Money article, echoing everyone’s frustration.) Oh, and Murdoch is “highly unlikely” to go through with the deal if he only gets enough Bancroft support to squeak though. So, yeah, we’ve got no idea. But so far today Dow Jones stock has dropped almost three points, or 5.6 percent, to 51.5 — which means investor think things aren’t looking good for a deal.
Bancrofts’ Jockeying Over Murdoch Deal Goes Down to the Wire [WSJ]
Dow Jones Deal Dead? Don’t Bet on It [CNN/Money]
Bancrofts Said Divided as Journal Deadline Looms [NYT]
News Corp. Says It’s ‘Highly Unlikely’ to Buy Dow Jones at Current Count [WSJ]
