News Corp said today that it would buy Dow Jones & Co Inc for $5.6 billion (€4.1 billion) after gaining enough support from the family that controls the Wall Street Journal'spublisher.
In a joint statement, Dow Jones and News Corp said Bancroft family members holding about 37 per cent of Dow Jones's voting power agreed to support the deal. Earlier yesterday, News Corp's board approved the deal.
Dow Jones shareholders will receive $60 in cash for each share of common stock or Class B common stock that they own, the companies said.
One Bancroft family member or another "mutually acceptable person" will be appointed to the News Corp board, the companies said.
They also agreed on a five-member committee to oversee the editorial independence of Dow Jones's news operations. The acquisition is expected to close in the fourth quarter, the companies said.
News Corp's Rupert Murdoch has been chasing the deal, which will see him running the Wall Street Journal, for decades. The 76-year-old media mogul spent the past three months courting the Bancroft family, which has controlled Dow Jones for more than a century.
The Journaland other Dow Jones properties add to Mr Murdoch's sprawling media empire - from the Fox television stations and MySpace online social network to the London Timesand New York Post- and would aid the launch of a Fox business channel later this year.
The family initially rejected Mr Murdoch's bid over fears that he would tarnish the Journal'simage and use Dow Jones's news operations to further his business interests. Many Journalreporters, and Dow Jones employees, also opposed the deal and sought to attract other buyers.
In the end, his $60-per-share offer proved too attractive for many family members to resist, and it all but eliminated the possibility of competing offers.
Dow Jones shareholders still must approve the buyout, an outcome that analysts have said is all but guaranteed, given the 65 per cent premium Mr Murdoch offered.