The market may not bat an eyelash at deals worth $5 billion these days, but News Corp.’s offer of $60 a share for Dow Jones is a “game changer,” said Erin Burnett during Stop Trading! today. She and Cramer discussed the likelihood of that deal going through.
The idea of taking over Dow Jones has been in the head of News Corp chief Rupert Murdoch as far back as 1996, Cramer said. That’s when Murdoch had called Cramer into his office to get his perspective on a possible buyout. Murdoch was willing to pay $73 a share at the time, but key trustee Roy Hammer and then-CEO Peter Kahn stood in the way. Cramer said that Murdoch has been unwilling to make any hostile moves to acquire Dow Jones.
Times have changed, though, since both Hammer and Kahn are out of the picture. And since Cramer doesn’t see the Bancroft family as one unified block of owners that are against the merger, there might still be room for Murdoch to make is move without getting aggressive. Cramer thinks that Rupert could have some Bancroft family members interested in his offer.
Is Cramer confident the deal will happen? “Oh yes, absolutely,” he said. “If it doesn’t go through with [News Corp.], then someone else will buy it.”
Gannett, Microsoft and Bloomberg have all expressed interest in owning Dow Jones.
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