Word: dow
(lookup in dictionary)
(lookup stats)
Dates: all
Sort By: most recent first
(reverse)
They weren't the only ones. In February a FORTUNE article documented the unfolding family discord. Vulture investors began buying up stakes and pressing a sale or spin-off of Dow Jones Markets (estimated 1996 sales: $833 million). One investor, Michael Price of Franklin Mutual Advisers, snapped up 6% of Dow Jones and vociferously pushed for a sale of the whole company...
Price is also known as a scalp collector. That's why Dow Jones chairman Peter Kann is seeing his name in print these days. A former Journal reporter and a winner of the Pulitzer Prize, Kann is considered a brilliant journalist but a less than stellar CEO. While the company has seen 9% annual average revenue growth over the past decade, its 1996 earnings of $190 million are only a shade better than those of 1986, $183 million. While Cox calls Kann a "nice guy," he also says, "Kann is not the person who should be leading the company into...
...Dow Jones (1996 sales: $2.5 billion) bought Telerate, which transmits bond prices, foreign exchange and other data, for $1.6 billion in 1990. It was a logical move but ultimately a poor acquisition. The unit, which last year accounted for 34% of the company's revenues, has been losing market share in the $6 billion financial-information business. "Dow Jones has been fading away," says Jim Dougherty, an analyst with Prudential Securities. "They have not kept up with the investment in technology." Bloomberg's and Reuters' terminals are technologically superior and more flexible, and they offer unique features such as historical...
...specter of a sell-off of the division or some broader restructuring has moved Dow Jones stock to its highest price since 1987; last Friday it closed at $54. Several Dow Jones insiders noted Rupert Murdoch's recent visit to Dow Jones headquarters for a meeting with Kann, and both Microsoft's Bill Gates and Buffett have privately expressed interest in the company, believing the Journal and Dow Jones brands are all underleveraged assets. Jettisoning one weak division may not be a panacea. The company will probably take an estimated $800 million write-off. And strategically it will become weaker...
...Dow Jones may solve part of that strategic problem by taking a second stab at television, another distribution outlet where it has fared badly. The company is expected to announce a deal this week with CNBC under which it would provide Dow Jones' business news to the CNBC and MSNBC cable channels. Earlier this year, Dow Jones launched WBIS+ in New York City with ITT. But ITT forced a sale of the station after that company became the target of a hostile takeover by Hilton Hotels. "Our New York television adventure can only be described as a detour," says Dow...