Murdoch unlikely to stick to Dow Jones bid

Dow Jones' Bancroft family, which controls 64 per cent of the company's voting shares, has been asked to decide by the end of Monday whether to support the deal.

News Corp chief Rupert Murdoch is "highly unlikely" to proceed with a $5 billion bid for Dow Jones & Co Inc based on the level of approval the offer has received from Dow Jones' controlling shareholders, a News Corp spokesman said on Monday.

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Dow Jones' Bancroft family, which controls 64 per cent of the company's voting shares, has been asked to decide by the end of Monday whether to support the deal.

Family members holding about 28 per cent of Dow Jones' overall voting power had indicated their support for the deal as of late Sunday, the company's Wall Street Journal newspaper reported.

A News Corp spokesman said the company would need more support than that from the Bancrofts for the deal to proceed, but he did not specify what percentage of the overall voting shares were sought.

A spokesman for the Bancroft family declined to comment. Dow Jones representatives were not immediately available.