An Internet entrepreneur and a Wall Street group have joined a list of potential rivals to News Corp's $5 billion bid for Wall Street Journalpublisher Dow Jones & Co, according to an adviser to the Dow Jones employee union.
Ownership Associates founder Christopher Mackin, who is helping the union find alternative bids, said the entrepreneur and the group made contact with him. He declined to give their names.
The news comes after the head of the company that owns Philadelphia's leading daily newspapers said he would be interested in mounting a counter bid against News Corp and chairman and chief executive Rupert Murdoch.
Philadelphia Media Holdings Chief Executive Brian Tierney also indicated he is willing to pay at least as much as Mr Murdoch is offering. Mr Tierney said he is interested in bidding with partners but did not identify any.
News Corp submitted an unsolicited bid to buy Dow Jones for $60 a share, representing a 65 per cent premium to the stock's price when the offer was disclosed last month. The high price was meant to ward off rival bidders, analysts said.
Dow Jones' controlling Bancroft family, which initially rejected the proposal, met Mr Murdoch for the first time last week to entertain a possible deal.
Analysts have said that Mr Murdoch is likely to be better placed than other bidders to handle the pressures facing Dow Jones and the newspaper industry, which is fighting the Internet for readers and advertising dollars.