A worsening credit market is likely to force Dow Jones & Co. to pay more to refinance debt, the company's chief executive, Richard Zannino announced Friday.

The company has a “three-year term debt facility to roll over, and with spreads widening we'll likely pay more to refinance it,” Zannino is quoted as saying in an e-mail interview with Reuters. He was responding to questions about the state of deteriorating credit conditions that began in the U.S. subprime mortgage market, Reuters reported.

A Dow Jones spokesman confirmed Zannino was referring to a $225 million note maturing in February 2008, according to the Reuters article.

The company is expected to close a $5.6 billion buy-out deal from Rupert Murdoch's News Corp. in the next few months.