After the Dow Jones Takeover, Could The New York Times Be Next?

After Rupert Murdoch was able to pull off his $5 billion acquisition of Dow Jones & Company, the hot topic of industry analysts is whether The New York Times Company could be the next target of a takeover. Investors agree that a buyout could happen, though another strong possibility could be an acquisition through a content partnership. Thomas Hull, Chairman of Legendary Pictures, names Comcast, Walt Disney and Microsoft as potential candidates to consider a deal (see article from DealBook). We created IntellectSpace Knowledge Maps of the Times Co’s ties to each of these rumored suitors in the hopes of predicting the company’s next move(Note: the information contained and presented in Knowledge Maps is public information from the Securities and Exchange Commission of the United States of America).

After mapping the possibilities, we found that the Times Co shares very strong connections to Comcast. In this first Knowledge Map, we can see that the Presiding Directors at either company, J Michael Cook (Comcast) and Ellen R Marram (Times Co) currently serve together as Directors at Eli Lilly. Jeffrey A Honickman (Director at Comcast) and Brenda Barnes (Director of Times Co) are likely well acquainted as they each have served as CEO of Pepsi-Cola. Michael I Sovern (Director at Comcast) is currently the Chairman at Sotheby’s Holdings where Donald M Stewart (former Director at Times Co) also serves as a Director.

In this second Knowledge Map, we see that Walt Disney, another potential candidate for a partnership, shares ties with Times Co. One common connection worth mentioning links John S Chen (Director of Disney) and David E Liddle (Director of Times Co) through Sybase, where Chen serves as the Chairman/CEO and Liddle was previously a Director.

This final Knowledge Map presents some of the corporate ties shared between Microsoft and Times Co. Here, many of the strongest connections are present through non-corporate entities. Raymond V Gilmartin (Director of Microsoft) likely knows Raul E Cesan (Director of Times Co) through shared memberships with the Healthcare Leadership Council and the Healthcare Institute of New Jersey.

With such a multitude of connections with a variety of companies, The New York Times Company certainly has the advantage of options if it wants to pursue a deal.

Click here or copy these links into your Internet Explorer browser for interactive versions of these IntellectSpace Knowledge Maps:

Comcast and Times Co: http://nv.intellectspace.com/ispace/GuestMonitor.aspx?id=c55711e1-7403-48df-aca6-dc4eb8f41561

Walt Disney and Times Co: http://nv.intellectspace.com/ispace/GuestMonitor.aspx?id=4929ad8d-bd43-45d2-b242-ef2a3ce519e1

Microsoft and Times Co: http://nv.intellectspace.com/ispace/GuestMonitor.aspx?id=e16dcfe2-8ecd-4a8c-ac7b-6ef3cb325c86

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