Rupert Murdoch's News Corp has not yet reached a deal to buy Dow Jones & Co Inc as discussions continue, representatives for Dow Jones and its controlling Bancroft family said on Friday. Talks are continuing over such issues as price, a source familiar with the matter also said on Friday.
Dow Jones shares gained 1.6 percent to $58.77 on the New York Stock Exchange. The comments countered a report in London's The Business weekly magazine that said the two sides have completed talks and were expected to announce a deal next week, citing unnamed sources acting for the Dow Jones board.
The report also said Dow Jones had accepted Murdoch's original offer of $60 per share for the company. A Dow Jones spokesman said the report was incorrect. A News Corp spokesman was not immediately available. Murdoch made an unsolicited $5 billion offer in May to buy the publisher of the Wall Street Journal newspaper. The offer values Dow Jones at a 65 percent premium to its stock price before the bid was disclosed publicly. "There is no change in the status of the discussions currently under way," a spokesman for the Bancrofts said. "News Corp is continuing to conduct due diligence and the negotiations are not complete."