Bloomberg L.P. owner Michael Bloomberg is looking into the purchase of either The Wall Street Journal parent company Dow Jones or The Washington Post, news website Axios reported on Friday. The motive behind the acquisition would be to merge the companies to create a financial news giant, thereby establishing a firm grasp on a significant market share.
While Bloomberg has prioritized the purchase of the News Corp-owned Dow Jones as his ideal target, he would also consider purchasing the Post should Amazon founder Jeff Bezos express an interest in selling the media outlet. In addition to The Wall Street Journal, News Corp also publishes Market Watch and Barrons. The company’s stock went up 3% following news of Bloomberg’s interest.
In contrast with Bloomberg’s plan, News Corp owner Rupert Murdoch announced in October his intention to start a process that would reunite two of his companies, News Corp and Fox Corp, nearly a decade after their split. This plan however was met with widespread resistance from shareholders feel as if the merger is not the best move forward.
Craig Huber, a media analyst at Huber Research Partners, believes that there is little likelihood that Murdoch would sell to Bloomberg, calling WSJ a “trophy property of the Murdoch family.