NEW YORK - DOW Jones & Co advisers contacted 21 potential buyers or partners in their effort to sell the company but did not receive a 'competitive alternative proposal' in the three months before it was sold to News Corp , according to a News Corp filing on Friday.

The financial advisers, Merrill Lynch & Co and Goldman Sachs Group Inc, contacted all parties they were aware had a possible interest in a transaction with Dow Jones, the owner of the Wall Street Journal, according to the filing with the US Securities and Exchange Commission.

The filing did not name any of the parties approached, but according to a story on the Wall Street Journal's Web site, they included private equity firm Blackstone Group and Gazprom, Russia's largest company and the world's biggest producer of natural gas.

The filing by News Corp, which ultimately paid US$60 (S$91) a share for Dow Jones after protracted negotiations, indicated the lack of alternative bidders was a significant factor in approving the sale.

'The board of directors believed that a price of US$60 per share...was compelling,' the filing stated. -- REUTERS