Dow Jones & Company to Acquire Full Ownership of WSJ.com Japanese-Language Edition

TOKYO and NEW YORK, July 13, 2012 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Dow Jones & Company announced today further investment in the company's global expansion and coverage of Japan by acquiring SBI Holdings' 40% ownership stake in The Wall Street Journal Japan K.K., the joint-venture publisher of WSJ.com's Japanese-language edition (http://japan.wsj.com).

Following completion of the acquisition, Dow Jones will become sole publisher and will expand operations of the web site, which is one of the fastest-growing local-language offerings within the Journal's digital portfolio. WSJ.com's Japanese-language edition, which was launched in December 2009, has more than two million visitors a month and is complemented by Japanese-language smartphone and tablet apps optimized for Apple and Android devices.

"The acquisition demonstrates Dow Jones's continued investment in publishing, particularly in high-growth markets and in digital, local-language initiatives," said Lex Fenwick, CEO of Dow Jones & Company and publisher of The Wall Street Journal. "Together with the WSJ.com Chinese-language edition and soon-to-launch Bahasa Indonesia news site, the expansion in Japanese enables us to continue reaching new readers in Asia and to introduce them to the broader, comprehensive coverage of The Wall Street Journal worldwide."

Added Robert Thomson, editor-in-chief of Dow Jones and managing editor of The Wall Street Journal, "This significant investment is evidence of our determination to expand the Journal across platforms and languages. It is also a sign of our commitment to Japan, which is the world's third-largest economy and seemingly at the start of a new phase of global expansion. That expansion is contingent upon companies and investors being able to make well-informed decisions and our aim is to ensure that Japanese readers have access to the world's foremost news and analysis in their own language. As Matsuo Basho, the great Japanese poet, noted: 'No matter where your interest lies, you will not be able to accomplish anything unless you bring your deepest devotion to it.'"

Edited from the Journal's Tokyo bureau, the site currently features coverage of local business, finance and political news, in addition to translated articles from The Wall Street Journal's global editions.

The combined Wall Street Journal and Dow Jones Newswires editorial team is among Japan's largest foreign news teams and was recently recognized by the Society of Publishers in Asia with an award for Excellence in Feature Writing for coverage of the 2011 earthquake and tsunami, as well as Journalist of the Year for Tokyo-based reporter Daisuke Wakabayashi.

In addition to the Japanese edition, the company's international offerings also include local language editions of WSJ.com in German, Chinese, Japanese, Portuguese and Spanish. Other regional offerings, including several local-language editions, are available in Korea, India, Hong Kong, Southeast Asia, Canada, and Central and Eastern Europe.

Editorial operations of the Japanese site will not be impacted by the acquisition.

About The Wall Street Journal

The Wall Street Journal is the world's leading business publication with more than two million subscribers and is the largest U.S. newspaper by total paid circulation. The Wall Street Journal franchise comprises The Wall Street Journal, The Wall Street Journal Asia, The Wall Street Journal Europe and The Wall Street Journal Online at WSJ.com, the leading provider of business and financial news and analysis on the Web with more than one million digital subscribers and 36 million visitors per month worldwide. WSJ.com is the flagship site of The Wall Street Journal Digital Network, which also includes MarketWatch.com, Barrons.com, AllThingsD.com and SmartMoney.com. The Journal holds 34 Pulitzer Prizes for outstanding journalism, and, in 2012, was ranked No. 1 in BtoB's Media Power 50 for the 12th consecutive year.

The Dow Jones & Company logo is available at http://www.globenewswire.com/newsroom/prs/?pkgid=2636

WSJ.com Asia-Pacific sites