Billionaire Michael Bloomberg, the owner of Bloomberg L.P., is interested in acquiring either Wall Street Journal parent Dow Jones or the Washington Post, news website Axios reported on Friday, citing an unnamed source familiar with the matter.
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 (NWSA.O) Dow Jones, also the publisher of Barron’s and MarketWatch, as the ideal fit but would buy the Post if Amazon.com Inc (AMZN.O) 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.
Shares of News Corp were up 3% in a broadly weaker market.