Axel Springer completes £575m takeover of The Telegraph after three years of uncertainty
The German media group Axel Springer finalised its £575 million acquisition of Telegraph Media Group on Tuesday, securing regulatory approvals in the UK, Ireland and Austria and ending a tumultuous three-year battle for control of the 172-year-old publisher.
Deal completes after regulatory clearance
Axel Springer closed the acquisition of the Telegraph Media Group on Tuesday after securing all required approvals from regulators in the United Kingdom, Ireland and Austria. The cash deal, valued at £575 million (around €667 million or $761 million), ends a prolonged period of uncertainty for the 172-year-old British titles. The German media house, which already owns Politico and Business Insider, outbid the owner of the Daily Mail to secure the prize.
Today is a day we have worked towards for a long time, and one we will always remember. Axel Springer was founded in 1946 under a British press licence, and the Telegraph was our North Star.
Strategic push: AI, digital and the US
Mathias Döpfner, Axel Springer’s chief executive and controlling shareholder, outlined plans to turn the Telegraph into the “leading centre-right media outlet in the English-speaking world.” The group intends to accelerate the paper’s digital transformation, deploy artificial intelligence for innovation and growth, and expand into the United States market. Döpfner said the combined group would be able to “lead the next generation of trusted media.”
This creates a strong foundation for further accelerating our AI-powered digital transformation. Together we can lead the next generation of trusted media.
New managing director and editorial continuity
Carolin Hulshoff Pol, currently chief executive of Axel Springer’s flagship brand Bild, will take over as managing director of The Telegraph. Döpfner stressed that editorial independence is “sacrosanct” and expressed confidence in the existing leadership team: Chris Evans as editor-in-chief, Allister Heath as Sunday Telegraph editor, and Anna Jones as CEO of Telegraph Media Group.
We believe there are many opportunities to grow the Telegraph both in the UK and overseas. After three difficult years without owners, we look forward to stoking up the engines and setting forth on a new voyage.
A three-year battle ends
The deal brings to a close a fraught ownership saga. An earlier attempt by Abu Dhabi-backed RedBird IMI was blocked by the UK government over foreign ownership concerns, and The Spectator was subsequently sold to hedge fund tycoon Sir Paul Marshall for £100 million. Talks with New York Sun publisher Dovid Efune collapsed, clearing the way for DMGT to table a roughly £500 million offer. Axel Springer then swooped in at the 11th hour with a higher bid. It is Döpfner’s second run at the Telegraph after losing a 2004 auction to the Barclay brothers; he was also outbid by Nikkei for the Financial Times in 2015. Axel Springer generated €2.2 billion in revenue last year.
