perhaps this might account for DJ and AOL divorce...
Merylee
By ERIC R. QUINONES
NEW YORK (AP) - Dow Jones & Co.'s costly plan to overhaul its
struggling Dow Jones Markets financial information service is under
review, leading to speculation that the business might be up for
sale.
Dow Jones spokesman Richard Tofel said Thursday that company
management and the board of directors were ''engaged in a review of
that plan and various alternatives concerning Dow Jones Markets.''
He would not elaborate on those alternatives.
''That's kind of a veiled indication that they may consider
selling it,'' said Michael Kupinski, an analyst with A.G. Edwards
in St. Louis.
In January, Dow Jones unveiled a $650 million plan to revamp the
business, formerly known as Dow Jones Telerate, which provides
electronic financial data such as bond prices. The business has
fared poorly amid strong competition, dragging down the company's
earnings and stock price.
Tofel said Dow Jones has not been displeased with the unit's
performance. He added there is no time schedule for the review,
which comes as the company is considering its budget for next year.
''It's an extremely competitive marketplace and Dow Jones
Markets could be viewed as damaged goods at this point,'' Kupinski
said. ''Even with the initiatives they were planning, they were
trying to regain some of their lost market share.''
Kupinski cited Primark Corp., Dow Jones' partner in a news
service for traders and investors in Europe, as a potential bidder
for the unit. He said another suitor would be Bloomberg LP, which
along with Reuters PLC has been the major competition for Dow Jones
Markets.
Just last week, Dow Jones reported that its third-quarter
earnings fell 34 percent as it continued to struggle with Dow Jones
Markets. Operating income from the company's financial information
services unit, which includes Dow Jones Markets and its news wires,
fell 83 percent.
Chairman and chief executive Peter Kann told analysts after the
profit report that Dow Jones Markets was not for sale.
Without a sale, Kupinski said he expected Dow Jones Markets to
significantly affect the company's overall earnings for another
three years.
The reorganization plan drew the ire of some major shareholders
and dissident members of the family that controls Dow Jones, who
would have preferred a sale or spinoff of the unit.
In June, James Cramer, a well-known fund manager, sold most of
his Dow Jones shares in frustration over the company's refusal to
dump Dow Jones Markets. |
