News Corporation Offers to Buy Dow Jones

News Corporation Monday confirmed that it has made a friendly offer to Dow Jones & Company to acquire all of the outstanding shares of the company for $60 per share in cash, or in a combination of cash and News Corporation stock.

News Corporation has a market capitalization of approximately $70 billion and had total assets as of December 31, 2006 of approximately US$59 billion and total annual revenues of approximately US$27 billion. News Corporation is a diversified entertainment company with operations in eight industry segments: filmed entertainment; television; cable network programming; direct broadcast satellite television; magazines and inserts; newspapers; book publishing; and other. The activities of News Corporation are conducted principally in the United States, Continental Europe, the United Kingdom, Australia, Asia and the Pacific Basin.

Dow Jones & Company reports that a director who is a representative of the Bancroft family, Michael B. Elefante, informed the Dow Jones Board of Directors today that members of the family and the trustees of trusts for their benefit have advised him that they would vote shares constituting approximately 52% of the outstanding voting power of Dow Jones as of May 1st (excluding options) against the proposal submitted by News Corporation to acquire Dow Jones.

Approval of a merger under Delaware law requires approval of a majority of the outstanding voting power of the corporation. Accordingly, the Dow Jones Board of Directors has determined to take no action with respect to the proposal.

Dow Jones & Company, Inc. is a provider of global business and financial news, information and insight through multiple channels of media. In addition to The Wall Street Journal and its international and online editions, the Company publishes the print and online editions of Barron's, Dow Jones Newswires, Dow Jones Indexes and MarketWatch.com.It also provides news and information of general interest to local communities throughout the United States through its Ottaway group of local media, formerly known as community media.

Source: News Corporation & Dow Jones & Company