NEW YORK—Dow Jones & Co. said Thursday it is selling its one-third stake in its Stoxx Ltd. unit for $309 million.
Dow Jones, a unit of News Corp., could receive an additional $44 million from the deal depending on future business performance.
After the deal is completed Stoxx, which provides global stock market indexes, will be owned by the remaining two investors in the joint venture, Deutsche Boerse AG and SIX Group. Deutsche Boerse will hold a one-share majority in Stoxx.
The Stoxx indexes were launched in 1998.
Dow Jones agreed to the sale after an evaluation of its market indexes business. An August report in The Wall Street Journal, which is also owned by Dow Jones, said the company was considering selling its stock market indexing business.
A spokesman for Dow Jones declined to discuss any other plans the company might have for its stock market indexes business.
Dow Jones offers more than 130,000 stock indexes that are used as benchmarks by investors and licensed for use by mutual funds and other investment products, according to Dow Jones Indexes' Web site. Its best known index is the 125-year-old Dow Jones industrial average.
The deal is expected to close by the end of the first quarter in 2010.
Shares of Dow Jones parent News Corp. fell 12 cents to $14.63 in morning trading.
