Media tycoon Murdoch now owns Wall Street Journal

New Delhi: Rupert Murdoch's News Corp agreed to buy Dow Jones & Co. for $5.2 billion, gaining control of the Wall Street Journal and ending the Bancroft family's 105 years of stewardship.

Dow Jones investors will receive $60 a share, the companies said Wednesday in a statement. The offer is 4.6 per cent higher than the closing stock price Tuesday and a 65 per cent premium over April 30, the day before Murdoch's bid was announced.

The purchase of the Journal, the second-biggest US newspaper by circulation, Dow Jones Newswires and Barron's satisfies Murdoch's long-expressed desire to own New York-based Dow Jones. The assets will be added to News Corp.'s more than 110 newspapers, film and TV studios and the Fox News cable network.

"News Corp. will be able to extract value from the brand," Michael Morris, an analyst at UBS AG in New York, said Tuesday. A divided Bancroft family accepted the offer after debate over Murdoch's impact on news coverage at the Journal, which has a daily circulation of 2.06 million. Murdoch, 76, pledged to maintain the editorial independence of Dow Jones, winning enough support when Bancroft family members controlling at least 37% of the company OK'd the deal.

Murdoch offered a price that other potential bidders, including CNBC owner General Electric Co, could not match.

"The Bancrofts were staunchly opposed, but there's no other alternative," said Richard Dorfman, managing director at Richard Alan Inc., an investment company in New York. "Once nobody else became available as a buyer, the deal became a fait accompli."