Dow Jones approves sale to News Corp for $5bn

International media magnate Rupert Murdoch has sealed a deal to buy Wall Street Journal publisher Dow Jones & Co. for US$5bn (€3.7bn), ending a century of family ownership and adding a new crown jewel to his global media empire, News Corp.

The companies today announced they had signed a definitive merger agreement after the deal won sufficient support to pass from a deeply divided Bancroft family, which has controlled the storied newspaper publisher for generations.