Dow Jones Board to Oversee Murdoch Talks

The board of the Wall Street Journal's publisher, Dow Jones, has taken control of negotiations over a possible sale to Rupert Murdoch, replacing the company's dominant Bancroft family in the driving seat.

The move, announced today, was widely interpreted as a sign of impatience at the pace of talks. It came just as the internet entrepreneur, Brad Greenspan, who founded the social networking site MySpace, revealed that he was entering the fray with a partial offer for Dow Jones.

In a statement, Dow Jones said its board of directors and the Bancrofts had concluded that "the best way to continue to evaluate the News Corporation proposal" was for the board to "take the lead in addressing all aspects of the proposal and all other strategic alternatives, including remaining independent".

It added, however, that the Bancrofts' concern that the Journal should maintain an independent editorial voice would remain a key issue.

"Representatives of the Bancroft family, which owns shares representing a majority of the Company's voting power, reiterated that any transaction must include appropriate provisions with respect to journalistic and editorial independence and integrity."

Seven weeks have passed since news broke that Mr Murdoch's News Corporation had tabled a $60-a-share offer, worth $5bn (£2.5bn), in an attempt to gain control of the world's top selling business newspaper.

The latest entrant to the battle, Brad Greenspan, said he had written to Dow Jones with an offer of $1.25bn for a 25% stake in the company at the same price per share as Mr Murdoch's proposal.

"Our proposal to take a non-controlling stake in Dow Jones stands as an attractive alternative to the current options as a vehicle for maximizing shareholder value," said Mr Greenspan in a statement.

A series of interested parties have emerged. The Financial Times's owner, Pearson, has been working with General Electric on a deal which could allow the Bancrofts to retain a minority stake.

The Los Angeles billionaire Ron Burkle was also reported to be pondering an offer this week

The Dow Jones board, which will conduct the talks, is chaired by Peter McPherson - the president of Michigan State University. It contains four members affiliated with the Bancrofts. Independent directors include the Coca-Cola Enterprises boss, John Brock, and the head of Wal-Mart's US operations, Eduardo Castro-Wright.

Dow Jones' shares surged 3.2% to $60.65 today.