Dow Jones: will Ron Burkle bid?

Press reports indicate that Los Angeles billionaire Ron Burkle may join with Dow Jones (NYSE: DJ) worker unions to make a bid for the company. The Independent Association of Publishers' Employees are talking with Burkle about supporting the move. The union represents over 2,000 of Dow Jones's 7,500 staff.

If Burkle could put together a package of $5 billion, the company's founding Bancroft family might prefer it to Rupert Murdoch's bid, especially if it had the support of Dow Jones employees and management. Both the Bancrofts and editorial personnel at The Wall Street Journal are concerned that Murdoch might meddle with the editorial independence of the nation's largest financial publication.

What is odd about the bidding process is that no other major media company has stepped forward with a bid. It may be that talking on a purchase price of $5 billion for a company that has low operating margins is more than other firms can take on. As the controlling shareholder of News Corp (NYSE: NWS), Murdoch can make his decision without immediate concerns that his shareholders might be upset.

Douglas A. McIntyre is a partner at 24/7 Wall St.