The Register® — Biting the hand that feeds IT

Dow Jones acquires CBSMarketwatch

$519m website play

Tune into our application security webcast, click here

The publisher of the Wall Street Journal is buying CBSMarketwatch for $519m. Dow Jones and Co is paying $18 per share for the San Francisco firm behind cbsmarketwatch.com. This represents a premium of 7.2 per cent based on Friday's closing price or 46.5 per cent based on the 60 day average price.

Larry Kramer, chairman and chief executive of MarketWatch, said: "By combining Dow Jones' legendary brands, infrastructure and valuable strategic alliances with MarketWatch's award-winning newsroom and comprehensive suite of business and analytical tools, this transaction supports our mission to be the market leader in licensed and advertising supported financial news and information."

Dow Jones publishes the Wall Street Journal and its online incarnation wsj.com which charges for access and claims 701,000 subscribers. MarketWatch was founded in 1997 and runs cbsmarketwatch and bigcharts.com as well as some subscription services.

The deal should close in the first quarter of next year but must still be approved by shareholders and regulators. ®

Related stories

Penguin and the great katie.com hijack
Archive.org suffers Fahrenheit 911 memory loss
Reed says yes to science on the web

See what The Register's experts have to say on application security

Don’t Miss

Win a Samsung C6625!

Reg Lucky Draw Windows Mobile handsets up for grabs

Palm_Pre_001_SMIs your cameraphone an oxymoron?

Pic Review iPhone 3G v iPhone 3GS v Palm Pre

Reg black vulture logoReg Mobile and Wireless newsletter is go! go! go!

Site news Email-tasm

Sign up, sign up for The Register IT security newsletter

Narrowcasting for the email classes