The decision follows several weeks of discussions within Dow Jones' controlling Bancroft family that have failed to bridge a rift over whether to accept Murdoch's offer.
NEW YORK: Dow Jones Co. Inc. said on Wednesday its board will take over negotiations related to a $5 billion takeover offer from Rupert Murdoch's News Corp., a move that could bring a quicker resolution to the talks.
The decision follows several weeks of discussions within Dow Jones' controlling Bancroft family that have failed to bridge a rift over whether to accept Murdoch's offer.
Bancroft representatives presented proposals to the board on Wednesday for addressing key concerns about the bid, including ways of preserving editorial independence, a spokesman for the family said.
Dow Jones, publisher of the 'The Wall Street Journal', said its board would evaluate all proposals for the company as well as the possibility of remaining independent.
Separately, Internet investor Brad Greenspan said he had offered to buy a 25-percent stake in Dow Jones at $60 per share, the same price being offered by Murdoch, in what he described as a partial buyout, for a total of $1.25 billion.
Greenspan founded Intermix, home to the MySpace social network that was bought by News Corp. in 2005.
He left Intermix in 2003 amid an informal US Securities and Exchange Commission inquiry and accounting restatements. Later he became a vocal critic of News Corp.'s purchase of the company, saying the deal defrauded shareholders.
A Los Angeles judge rejected his challenge in late 2006.
Members of the Bancroft family, which controls 64 percent of Dow Jones' voting shares, met Murdoch earlier this month to discuss his unsolicited
offer for the company.
The family has said it would entertain other proposals as well, but no rival bids for the whole company have emerged.
Murdoch's offer comes amid an acute slowdown in newspaper advertising revenue and circulation as more readers move to the Internet.
Expectations of further declines have prompted newspaper groups such as Tribune Co. and Knight Ridder to accept buyouts, while others have sold off assets.
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