Rupert Murdoch's News Corporation has made a $5bn bid for Dow Jones, the publisher of the Wall Street Journal.
News Corp is said to have made a $60 a share, unsolicited bid for Dow Jones, sending the company's shares up 54% this evening. Dow Jones stock is now halted on the New York Stock Exchange.
Dow Jones' board of directors and trustees of the controlling Bancroft family are currently evaluating the unsolicited bid.
Murdoch has said the company planned to launch a business news cable channel by the end of 2007 to rival CNBC, aiming to replicate the success News Corp. has had with cable news.
