Daily Mail owner secures funding for £500m takeover of Telegraph | Telegraph Media Group
The owner of the Daily Mail secured funding for the £500 million purchase of the Telegraph; This is a significant development that paved the way for the group to announce the terms of the acquisition on Monday.
According to weekend reports, Lord Rothermere’s Daily Mail and General Trust (DMGT) has agreed to pay the sum in two installments. The initial payment of £400 million will be financed by an increase in the group’s debt to long-standing lender NatWest and existing company cash.
According to the Observer, the group will pay a further £100 million into RedBird IMI over two years, most likely using the DMGT bond with Deutsche Bank that matures in 2027.
Details of the funding structure will be given to culture secretary Lisa Nandy this week as part of the information she will need before allowing the deal to go ahead.
Regulators such as the Competition and Markets Authority and Ofcom will also need to review the proposal.
The RedBird IMI consortium, a joint venture between US private equity firm RedBird Capital Partners and the United Arab Emirates’ International Media Investments, took control of the Telegraph in 2023. However, it was forced to put the newspaper group up for sale in April last year after the UK government legislated against foreign state ownership of British newspaper assets.
Rothermere has long had coveted control over Telegraph titles. If successful, they will join a roster of newspapers and magazines including Metro, i Paper and New Scientist. DMGT currently handles the advertising contract for Telegraph titles.
As part of the offer, which was initially submitted last month, DMGT said the Mail and Telegraph editorial teams would remain separate and editorially independent, and investment would be provided to deliver the games’ aim of becoming a global brand.
Rothermere’s group said the deal would also provide “much-needed certainty” to Telegraph staff left in limbo by a sale process that has dragged on for more than two years.
But rival bidders are still lurking around. According to the Financial Times, New York Sun owner Dovid Efune is considering making an offer and has the support of Baltimore Sun owner David Smith. It was stated that Efune received approximately £100 million in investment support from Brexit-supporting businessman Jeremy Hosking.
UK-born Efune was reportedly in talks to buy the Telegraph last year but was derailed by funding issues.
