Friday, July 20, 2007

Von Holtzbrinck Resigns from Dow Jones Board

Dieter von Holtzbrinck, the heir to German media conglomerate von Holtzbrinck has resigned in protest over the decision by the DJ board to recommend acceptance of the NewCorp bid for the company. von Holtzbrinck apparently abstained from the vote last week (Post) but had been vocal in recommending the company remain independent. Apparently, the Bancroft family (there are dozens of shareholders) will decide over the next few days/week whether to accept or not, the NewsCorp bid.

(For those unfamiliar with von Holtzbrinck, they are a family owned business operating newspapers, trade publishing, education and digital media businesses in over 80 countries. In the US they own FSG, St Martins, Henry Holt and in the UK they own Macmillan).

In related news, the company posted mixed results (Money) this week with traditional media showing decreases but with international, Barrons and some digital revenues up. Some analysts speculated that the continued softness in DJ's traditional sources of revenue may cause some Bancroft shareholders to take the money and run. In trading, the share price was down slightly based on doubts about whether the deal with NewsCorp would be completed.

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