CME buys 90 percent of Dow Jones index unit for $607 mil

NEW YORK -- Dow Jones & Co. is selling a 90 percent stake in its stock-market index unit to CME Group for $607.5 million.

The joint venture, announced by the companies Wednesday, will allow the Dow Jones industrial average to keep its famous name.

Dow Jones will retain a 10 percent stake in the business, which 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.

Its best known index is the industrial average, which began as a basket of 11 stocks in 1884. Today, it includes 30 stocks including Caterpillar Inc., Microsoft Corp. and Wal-Mart Stores Inc., and is used as an indicator by investors around the globe.

Dow Jones & Co. is owned by Rupert Murdoch's News Corp.