Axel Springer buys UK’s Telegraph for $766 million

Axel Springer – (Web Desk) – German media group Axel Springer announced on Friday that it will buy Britain’s Telegraph Media Group for £575 million ($766.3 million) in cash. This deal ends months of uncertainty over who would own the newspaper.

The purchase interrupted Daily Mail owner DMGT’s attempt to acquire the broadsheet, which had faced regulatory scrutiny in Britain over media plurality concerns. Axel Springer said it plans to keep the Telegraph’s legacy alive while also expanding its reach, including in the US. The company reaffirmed its commitment to independent, high-quality journalism.

After buying Politico in 2021 for around $1 billion, the Telegraph deal is Axel Springer’s second-largest investment since it was founded in 1946. CEO Mathias Dopfner called owning the paper both “a privilege and a duty.” He said the group wants to grow the title while keeping its character and helping it become a widely read, center-right media outlet in the English-speaking world.

Dopfner acknowledged that staff had faced uncertainty for a long time. He promised that Axel Springer would bring stability. The deal was supported by New York Sun publisher Dovid Efune, who led a consortium to bid, though Axel Springer completed the purchase alone. RedBird IMI praised the smooth and fast negotiations.

“With the strength of their commercial offer and a straightforward regulatory path to ownership, we believe that Axel Springer is well placed to take the Telegraph forward into its next chapter,” RedBird said in a statement.

The companies said they were now working with the British government to obtain the necessary approvals.

Culture minister Lisa Nandy’s decision last month to issue a public-interest intervention notice sent DMGT’s deal to regulators, which were examining the implications for media plurality and competition.

Nandy’s office did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

The deal brings an end to a saga that began in June 2023, when Lloyds Banking Group effectively repossessed the Telegraph after longtime owners the Barclay family fell into arrears on about 1.2 billion pounds of debts secured against the newspaper group.

RedBird IMI took control after paying off a 600-million-pound loan owed to Lloyds, but the titles remained in limbo as Britain moved to block foreign state involvement in national newspapers, forcing it to reverse course.

US investment firm RedBird Capital Partners then tried to buy the group, with Abu Dhabi-backed IMI taking a minority position, but the deal collapsed in November 2025.

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The bid had been restructured to comply with new rules capping foreign state ownership at 15%, but was withdrawn after a slower-than-expected regulatory process and internal opposition from senior Telegraph newsroom figures.