Bancrofts meet to discuss Murdoch bid for Dow Jones

By Murali Anantharaman and Svea Herbst-Bayliss

BOSTON (Reuters) - Members of the Bancroft family, which controls Dow Jones & Co. Inc. DJ.N, may decide by the end of the week whether to accept a $5 billion offer by Rupert Murdoch's News Corp NWSa.N for the publisher of The Wall Street Journal.

Family members met in Boston on Monday to hear presentations by their advisers on the deal, but have not decided if they will agree to the sale.

Winning over the family, which controls 64 percent of Dow Jones's voting shares, is a major hurdle Murdoch must clear to buy Dow Jones, which has been under Bancroft control for more than a century.

Their decision is far from certain as an undetermined number of Bancrofts oppose the deal, fearing Murdoch would interfere with Dow Jones's news operations to further his business interests.

One prominent shareholder and board member, Christopher Bancroft, is seeking alternatives to Murdoch and could block the bid.

Bancroft, speaking to reporters, said that he expects the family to decide by Friday whether it will recommend selling the company.

"We're still undecided," said Bancroft, wearing a suit and a baseball cap with the words "Bite me" on it. "Everyone has to decide for himself."

Dow Jones Chairman Peter McPherson declined to comment.

The family's lead trustee, Hemenway & Barnes lawyer Michael Elefante, who is also a Dow Jones board member, called the meeting productive.

The Bancrofts, he said, "now have all the information they need to make a good decision on the News Corp. offer."

The Bancrofts were expected to receive the offer and ask questions at the meeting. They could take time -- perhaps days -- to consider how they would vote their shares, according to a source familiar with the situation, who asked not to be named.

Elefante planned to canvass the Bancrofts after the meeting to determine how they would vote before offering the tally to the boards of directors of Dow Jones and News Corp.

The family's opposition has cast doubt on what many analysts thought would be a sure thing given Murdoch's offer of $60 per share -- a 65 percent premium to where the stock had traded before the offer was disclosed in May.

"The difference between what the stock was worth before Murdoch approached them and now is so broad," said Tom Rosenstiel, director of the Project for Excellence in Journalism, an organization that follows events in U.S. journalism.

"But families are peculiar. And you're talking about more than money here. You're talking about blood and a family identity."