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November 22, 2008 12:25:26 AM CST

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What Made the Bancrofts Buckle?

Posted Jun 2, 07 8:21 AM CDT in US,  Business 

(Newser) – In a surprising about-face Dow Jones director and Bancroft family trustee Michael Elefante shifted from the cons to the pros, advocating putting the company in play at a recent family meeting. His change of position was behind the family's decision that it would meet with Rupert Murdoch and consider other bids for the company.

A key element in this change of heart was the bleak picture Dow Jones CEO Richard Zannino painted a few weeks earlier of the competitive landscape after the Reuters-Thomson merger. And the Bancrofts' sudden willingness to sell sent DJ stock above Murdoch's bid price, prompting the waggish Murdoch to declare, "We don't have any secret plans to pay more."

Source Wall Street Journal

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Co., the Bancroft family, promising them a board seat on his media conglomerate, News Corp., as well as measures to ensure the independence of The Wall Street Journal. (AP Photo/Mark Lennihan, FILE)   (Associated Press)
Michael B. Elefante   (Hemenway & Barnes)
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Rupert Murdoch • News Corp • acquisition • merger • Bancroft family • Thomson Reuters • Michael Elefante • Richard Zannino • big deals


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