Company News: Director quits Dow Jones board in protest

German publishing executive Dieter von Holtzbrinck has resigned as a director of Dow Jones & Co. to protest the board’s endorsement of a deal to sell the company, which publishes The Wall Street Journal, to Rupert Murdoch’s News Corp.

In a letter to Dow Jones’ board members, von Holtzbrinck said he was “very worried” that Dow Jones’ “unique journalistic values will long-term strongly suffer after the proposed sale.” Dow Jones disclosed von Holtzbrinck’s departure and included a copy of his letter in a regulatory filing Thursday.

Dow Jones’ board endorsed the $5 billion buyout offer from News Corp. late Tuesday, and the proposal has now gone to the company’s controlling shareholders, the Bancroft family, for a decision. They are expected to meet Monday and take several days to consider the offer.

Von Holtzbrinck was reported to have abstained from the board’s vote Tuesday, as did Leslie Hill, a Bancroft family member who also serves as a director. Christopher Bancroft, another family member and director, was reported to have left the meeting early.

Murdoch’s bid to acquire Dow Jones has met with stiff resistance in several quarters, including a union representing Journal reporters, several members of the Bancroft family, and former board member Jim Ottaway Jr., who together with his brother David control 7 percent of the company’s shareholder vote.

“Cash-strapped Ford Motor Co. took a step toward selling its Jaguar and Land Rover units on Thursday when it received an undisclosed number of opening bids for its British automaking businesses.

Thursday was a deadline to submit early bids, but Ford said no sale is imminent.

“We’ve had contacts from third parties, and we’re actively evaluating them as part of our strategic review,” John Gardiner, a Ford spokesman in London, said Thursday. “Congress plans to scrutinize Google Inc.’s proposed $3.1 billion acquisition of DoubleClick Inc. to gauge the potential impacts on consumer privacy and competition in the online advertising business.

In April, Google announced its intention to buy ad-management technology company DoubleClick, which helps its customers place and track online ads, including search ads. The deal is expected to close by the end of 2007.

Privacy groups say the acquisition would give Google access to an unprecedented amount of data on consumers’ Web usage and Internet search preferences.