Financial Times publisher Pearson is looking for partners to make a bid for Dow Jones, The Wall Street Journal is reporting.
Pearson is one of the few companies, aside of GE or Hearst, that could potentially outmaneuver News Corp., which already has offered the Bancroft family $60 a share for Dow Jones, Cramer said today on Stop Trading!.
Both GE and Hearst have already been approached by Pearson, but no deals have been made yet. Even if a partnership emerges, Cramer’s still doubtful News Corp. will back down.
“It’s always going to be Murdoch in the end,” he said. “Because whatever bid they get, News Corp. will top it.”
But that’s if money is the Bancroft’s only concern. The family could easily take a $50 bid from a firm it thinks will protect The Wall Street Journal’s reputation better than Murdoch, Cramer said.
“The Bancroft family just wants the independence,” he said. “If they cared about the money, they would have taken the $60.”
Cramer’s final thought: “These are the companies that can lay off the risk and stop News Corp., and it’s very much their interest to stop it.”
GE is the parent company of CNBC.
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