DMGT's Bid for the Telegraph

Last month, Axel Springer completed its £575 million acquisition of the Telegraph Media Group, ending almost three years of uncertainty over the newspaper's ownership. Only months earlier, Daily Mail and General Trust had an agreed deal to buy the group itself.

The Telegraph came up for sale in 2023 after Lloyds Banking Group took control over the Barclay family's unpaid debts. RedBird IMI, a joint venture between RedBird Capital and Abu Dhabi's International Media Investments, repaid the debt to take control, but new laws in 2024 banning foreign state ownership of UK newspapers blocked its takeover. A £500 million deal for RedBird Capital alone, with IMI's stake capped at 15%, then collapsed in November last year.

DMGT agreed a deal worth around £500 million shortly afterwards, made up of £400 million upfront and £100 million within two years. However, DMGT already owns the Daily Mail, and in February Culture Secretary Lisa Nandy launched a probe into the deal over media plurality concerns. While that review was ongoing, Axel Springer, owner of Bild, Die Welt and Politico, agreed a £575 million all-cash deal directly with RedBird IMI in March. DMGT criticised the regulatory framework as leaving UK newspaper groups at a disadvantage in any merger process.

In April, Lisa Nandy confirmed she was not minded to intervene in the Axel Springer deal under either the public interest media merger regime or the foreign state influence regime in the Enterprise Act 2002, allowing the deal to complete in June.

DMGT had an agreed price and still lost the deal. In a regulated sector, signing is only the first step, and the review left room for a rival bidder whose profile raised fewer concerns.