"Rothermere, who took over running the Daily Mail and General Trust (DMGT) group in 1998 at the age of 30 after the death of his father, first looked at acquiring the Telegraph in 2004, when the Barclay family prevailed with a then eye-watering 665m takeover."
"By Friday 6 March, after three prospective buyers had been thwarted—Abu Dhabi-backed RedBird IMI which was forced to resell, a consortium led by New York Sun owner Dovid Efune and another led by Gerry Cardinale's RedBird Capital—Rothermere's lawyers and financiers had been poised to sign the final papers to push his 500m deal to fruition, bar a lengthy regulatory process."
"Germany's Axel Springer swooped in at the last minute to complete its own equally long pursuit of a British crown jewel to bolster its transatlantic media empire, having also lost out to the Barclays in 2004 and to Nikkei in a battle for the Financial Times a decade later."
Lord Rothermere's attempt to acquire the Telegraph ended when Axel Springer made a last-minute £575 million offer, outbidding the Daily Mail owner after decades of pursuit. Rothermere first sought the Telegraph in 2004 when the Barclay family acquired it for £665 million. By March 6, Rothermere's £500 million deal appeared ready for completion following regulatory approval, with three previous buyers having failed. Springer, a German media company, successfully completed its own long-standing pursuit of the British publication to strengthen its English-language media presence. Springer's CEO Mathias Dopfner visited Telegraph staff and management, including editor Chris Evans, promising editorial independence while speculation continues about potential changes.
Read at www.theguardian.com
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