Media mogul Bloomberg eyes Dow Jones or Washington Post acquisition, no talks yet

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(Reuters) - Michael Bloomberg has not reached out to Rupert Murdoch to discuss a possible acquisition of Dow Jones from News Corp (NASDAQ:NWSA), two sources familiar with the matter told Reuters, after news website Axios reported on Friday that the owner of Bloomberg L.P. was interested in acquiring the Wall Street Journal.

Such a merger would create a financial data and news giant, further firming up the world's 12th-richest man's strong hold on the business and likely allowing his company to sell more Bloomberg Terminals - the main source of its revenue.

According to the Axios report, Bloomberg sees News Corp-owned Dow Jones, also the publisher of Barron's and MarketWatch, as the ideal fit but would buy the Post if Amazon.com Inc (NASDAQ:AMZN) founder Jeff Bezos was interested in selling.

Bloomberg L.P., the Washington Post and Dow Jones did not immediately respond to Reuters' requests for comment.

There has been no outreach from Bloomberg and there are no active talks with the Murdochs as of now, a source familiar with the matter told Reuters, adding that it is unclear if Murdoch would be open to considering an offer.

In conversations with advisers over the years, Michael Bloomberg has expressed the desire to own a big-name newspaper that would allow him to influence the public conversation on issues like climate change and expand the reach of his business news empire, another source said.

Any tie-up would be closely reviewed by regulators, who would examine impacts on users of financial information services and the labor market for business journalists, according to antitrust lawyers.

"The transaction would be challenged only if the resulting choices leave insufficient competition in the market for either users or suppliers. So, the devil is in the (market) details." said anti-trust lawyer Jonathan Rubin.

The Federal Trade Commission declined to comment. The Department of Justice and Federal Communications Commission did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

Shares of News Corp were up about 2% on Friday, outpacing modest gains in the broader market.

In October, Rupert Murdoch had started a process that could reunite his media empire, News Corp and Fox Corp, nearly a decade after the companies split.

The proposal has, however, met with stern opposition from several shareholders who say a combination on its own would fail to realize the full value of News Corp and have instead suggested a spin-off of the media company's digital real estate business or Dow Jones as an alternative to the merger.

Activist investor Irenic Capital Management, which holds about 2% of News Corp's Class B voting shares, wrote a November letter to Murdoch and the News Corp board that Dow Jones would be highly valued as a separately-traded company.

Craig Huber, media analyst at Huber Research Partners, said he would be "shocked" if Murdoch sold the Wall Street Journal and has likely told his family not to sell it either.

"The WSJ is a trophy property to the Murdoch family," he said, adding that the speculation is likely a result of his plan to reunite his media empire.

Reuters competes with Bloomberg News, a unit of Bloomberg L.P., as a provider of financial news.