KEY POINTS:
Brian Tierney, who led a group that bought the Philadelphia Inquirer and Philadelphia Daily News for US$515 million (S681.5 million) last year, says he may bid for Dow Jones and give Rupert Murdoch's US$5 billion a run for its money.
Tierney confirmed comments he made to the Wall Street Journal expressing interest.
The New York-based company's board put the publisher of Barron's and the Journal up for sale last week after the controlling Bancroft family agreed to consider Murdoch's offer.
Tierney is the second potential bidder to surface as the Bancrofts consider options including the US$60 a share offer from Murdoch's News Corp.
Dow Jones' union, the Independent Association of Publishers' Employees, has enlisted billionaire Ron Burkle to explore alternatives to Murdoch's bid.
Tierney, chief executive officer of Philadelphia Media Holdings, told the newspaper that Murdoch's bid isn't too high.
Dow Jones has "some of the most powerful brands in the business," Tierney said.
He was willing to "participate in conjunction with others", the Journal quoted him as saying.
Dow Jones spokesman Howard Hoffman and a spokesman for the Bancrofts, Roy Winnick, had no immediate comment
- BLOOMBERG
