News Corp, Dow Jones deal expected Tuesday-source

(Reuters) - By Robert MacMillan and Kenneth Li



NEW YORK, July 31 - Rupert Murdoch's News Corp. is expected to reach a definitive agreement to buy Dow Jones & Co. Inc. on Tuesday evening, capping his three-month pursuit of the publisher of the Wall Street Journal, a source familiar with the matter said.


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News Corp., Dow Jones deal expected Tuesday-source

(Reuters) - By Robert MacMillan and Kenneth Li



NEW YORK, July 31 - Rupert Murdoch's News Corp. is expected to reach a definitive agreement to buy Dow Jones & Co. Inc. on Tuesday evening, capping his three-month pursuit of the publisher of the Wall Street Journal, a source familiar with the matter said.


Read more at Reuters.com Mergers News

UPDATE 1-Dow Jones family owners face deadline on bid

(Reuters) - NEW YORK, July 30 - Rupert Murdoch's News Corp.
appeared close to gaining sufficient approval for its
$5 billion bid for Dow Jones & Co from the Bancroft
family, The Wall Street Journal said, ahead of a Monday
deadline for responding to the offer.




The Bancrofts control 64 percent of the voting shares of
Dow Jones, owner of the Wall Street Journal. Slightly less than
half of the family's votes favored the deal as of late Sunday,
the Journal reported, citing a source close Dow Jones' board.
This accounts for 28 percent of the overall voting shares.


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New York Times coverage tiptoes around owner - NYT editor

(Reuters) - Hoyt said today's New York Times is caught in unprecedented
changes in an industry where readers are flocking to the Internet
and advertising revenue is tumbling for print editions across the
country. The Bancroft family, owners of Wall Street Journal
publisher Dow Jones & Co. Inc. , likely will sell to
Murdoch, even though some members think he'll bring his tabloid
heart to the pages of the financial news icon.




Hoyt said the Times has covered the Bancroft-Murdoch saga
aggressively.


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Murdoch to be talk of Sun Valley media festival

(Reuters) - Participants will watch closely for any move by the 76-year-old chief executive of News Corp., including a sudden departure from the event, as a sign of a deal that would give him control of The Wall Street Journal, one of the world's most influential business media outlets.




News Corp. hired Allen & Co., the media industry's go-to bankers, to advise on the bid. Perhaps that is one reason why Dow Jones CEO Richard Zannino, a fixture at last year's Sun Valley but who hired Goldman Sachs, is not on the invitation list this year.


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U.S. SEC's country watch list draws fire

(Reuters) - Both business and humanitarian groups say the list,
available on the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission's Web
site, is ill-conceived. The tool provides links to companies
whose annual reports contain "some reference" to business
related to Sudan, Syria, North Korea, Iran and Cuba.




"Not only has the SEC named and shamed the wrong companies,
it's missed many with significant operations in countries like
Sudan," Adam Sterling, director of the Sudan Divestment Task
Force, and Todd Malan, president and CEO of the Organization
for International Investment, wrote in an opinion piece in
Thursday's Wall Street Journal.


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US STOCKS-Futures rise on growth optimism

(Reuters) - NEW YORK, June 25 - U.S. stock index futures rose
on Monday, pointing to a rebound for the market from last
week's sharp declines as optimism about economic growth
replaces interest-rate worries.




Dobson Communications Corp. kicked off a fresh
round of merger-and-acquisition chatter as the rural wireless
provider mulls strategic options, including a possible sale,
the Wall Street Journal Online reported.


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UPDATE2-Dow Jones rival bid plan may include family-reports

(Reuters) - One option for GE and Pearson would be to allow the
Bancroft family to keep a 20 percent stake in the company,
reported the Financial Times, which is published by Pearson.




Selling Dow Jones, publisher of The Wall Street Journal, to
GE and Pearson, would be a better journalistic fit than News
Corp., but there is "no rush" to examine the plan, an
unidentified Bancroft family member told the Financial Times.


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U.S. Stock Futures Rise on Report CBOT Bid Will Be Boosted; Exxon Gains

(Bloomberg) -- U.S. stock-index futures rose after
a report said Chicago Mercantile Exchange Holdings Inc. will
raise its bid for CBOT Holdings Inc. and as investors awaited a
report that may show wholesale inflation decreased last month.

CBOT, operator of the Chicago Board of Trade, gained in
trading in German after the Wall Street Journal reported that
the biggest U.S. futures market plans to boost the value of its
$10 billion offer. Exxon Mobil Corp., the largest oil producer,
advanced after oil prices rose.


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Bancrofts to send new WSJ safeguard proposal: report

(Reuters) - The newspaper said it was unclear if the changes would bridge differences over how to enforce rules designed to protect the Wall Street Journal's independence.




News Corp. has offered $5 billion to buy Dow Jones, but the Bancroft's have voiced concern that chairman Rupert Murdoch could have too much influence over the company's flagship Wall Street Journal.


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European Stocks Rise, Led by Vodafone; Standard Life, BHP Billiton Gain

(Bloomberg) -- European stocks advanced on takeover
speculation in the telecommunications industry and as brokerages
advised investors to buy insurers and mining companies.

Vodafone Group Plc climbed after the Wall Street Journal
said the mobile-phone company could be worth more split into
parts, fueling speculation it may be taken over. Standard Life
Plc and Old Mutual Plc gained after Merrill Lynch raised its
recommendation on both shares. Mining stocks rose after Xstrata
Plc said it's prepared to make an acquisition and Citigroup Inc.
raised its recommendation on BHP Billiton's shares.


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European Stocks Advance, Paced by Vodafone, Eni, Royal Bank of Scotland

(Bloomberg) -- European stocks advanced, led by
Vodafone Group Plc after the Wall Street Journal said the phone
company could be worth more split into parts. Eni SpA gained as
crude oil traded near a two-week high in New York.

Ryanair Holdings Plc dropped after Europe's biggest low-
fare airline forecast losses in the second half of the year.


Read more at Bloomberg Stocks News