Dow Jones Board Seizes Control By Marie Morris, Newser Staff Posted Jun 20, 2007 4:48 PM CDT Copied Co., publisher of The Wall Street Journal, said Tuesday, May 1, 2007 it has received an unsolicited bid from Rupert Murdoch's News Corp. to buy the company for $60 per share, or $5 billion. (AP Photo/Richard Drew, file) (Associated Press) After more than a month of dithering by the Bancroft family, the Dow Jones board will take over negotiations with News Corp., greasing the skids for Rupert Murdoch's effort to acquire the company. With a $5 billion bid on the table, the board decided to "take the lead in addressing all aspects of the proposal," the Wall Street Journal reports. In a clear indication of how thoroughly the pending offer has splintered the Bancrofts and their reps, three family members and a lawyer who serve on the board gave the go-ahead for the full 16-member panel to hash out a response to the $60-a-share offer. The decision bodes ill for a possible offer involving GE and Financial Times publisher Pearson. (More Dow Jones stories.) Report an error