FORTUNE — The team behind influential tech site AllThingsD is severing ties with founding owner Dow Jones, a subsidiary of News Corp. . A formal statement is expected later today.
Fortune reported last month that AllThingsD co-executive editors Kara Swisher and Walt Mossberg had hired investment bank Code Advisors to find outside investors, as they continued to negotiate with Dow Jones about either ending or extending a partnership agreement that was set to expire on December 31. In the end, however, they were not able to work out a deal.
Not only does that mean the AllThingsD team will no longer share content and certain advertising functions with Dow Jones, but also that Mossberg will leave his Wall Street Journal column after 20 years (he has been with the paper for a total of four decades). Dow Jones also will retain the AllThingsD brand. All of this becomes effective at year-end.
So what’s next? Fortune hears that AllThingsD remains in talks with two prospective investors, one of which is Comcast (CMCSA) subsidiary NBCUniversal. Other names that have been floated include Bloomberg, Condé Nast, Cox Enterprises and The Washington Post Company .
So far, however, no final deal has been signed. It is unclear how ATD would finance itself without a large media partner. We also are unsure about the future of the AllThingsD brand and archived content, both of which Dow Jones currently owns.
Calls to a Dow Jones spokeswoman have not been returned. Kara Swisher declined comment via email.
UPDATE: Here is the official statement.
Sign up for Dan’s daily email newsletter on deals and deal-makers: GetTermSheet.com
