Dow Jones stock jumps on possible new offer

NEW YORK (CNNMoney.com) -- Shares of Dow Jones rallied Tuesday after a news report said the Wall Street Journal publisher may receive an alternative offer from billionaire investor Ron Burkle.

Burkle has joined up with the Independent Association of Publishers' Employees, a union representing workers at Dow Jones, to possibly make a counter offer to Rupert Murdoch's $5 billion bid for the company, Reuters reported.

Dow Jones (up $0.34 to $60.50, Charts) stock rose about 1 percent in afternoon New York Stock Exchange trading after jumping as much as 2.6 percent earlier.

The IAPE, which represents 2,000 Dow Jones workers, announced Monday it would search for other bidders as members of Dow Jones' controlling Bancroft family met for the first time with Murdoch to entertain a possible deal.

The union has also approached Berkshire Hathaway's (down $300.00 to $109,400.00, Charts, Fortune 500) Warren Buffett on a potential counter-offer for the publisher of the Journal, but has not received a response yet, Steven Yount, a representative for IAPE, told Reuters.

Burkle was part of an unsuccessful bid for publisher Tribune Co. (down $0.34 to $31.90, Charts, Fortune 500) earlier this year. He was not immediately available for comment, Reuters reported.

Buffett received a letter from the union Tuesday, but was not immediately available for comment, his assistant Debbie Bosanek told the news agency.

Buffett said last month it was "very, very unlikely" that he would bid for Dow Jones, either as a personal investment or together with his company Berkshire Hathaway, citing a high bid already on the table from Murdoch.

The IAPE is trying to build interest among six to 10 other potential bidders, according to Reuters. Yount would not name anyone aside from Buffett and Burkle, according to the news agency.

"As much as we appreciate the interest of Ron Burkle, we will continue to reach out to others who are interested in joining together with IAPE in putting together a proposal," Yount told Reuters.

News Corp.'s (down $0.10 to $24.00, Charts, Fortune 500) Murdoch met with key members of Dow Jones' Bancroft family Monday to reassure them that the offer for the company would not undermine its flagship newspaper. Murdoch said the talks were "constructive" during a five-hour meeting of discussing editorial independence safeguards.

-- Reuters contributed to this report