Berlin-based media group Axel Springer said Friday it had agreed to buy Britain’s historic Telegraph newspaper group for £575 million (about €665 million, $770 million), the company announced. The transaction, which requires regulatory approval, could conclude a long-running saga over the future of the Telegraph Media Group, publisher of the 171-year-old, right-leaning Daily Telegraph and its Sunday sister paper.
What do we know about the deal to buy the Telegraph?
Springer plans to acquire the Telegraph Media Group (TMG) from investor RedBird IMI, a consortium backed by US and Emirati interests. The Telegraph — often nicknamed the “Torygraph” for its political stance — is among Britain’s oldest and most influential newspapers.
Both parties said the sale would protect the long-standing media brand while creating opportunities for growth and entry into new markets. Axel Springer said it would invest in TMG “to enable it to become the leading center-right media outlet in the English-speaking world,” aiming to accelerate expansion into the US.
“More than 20 years ago, we tried to acquire The Telegraph and did not succeed. Now our dream comes true,” Axel Springer CEO Mathias Döpfner said. He added that the Telegraph stands for freedom, personal responsibility, democratic values and open societies — convictions he said closely align with Axel Springer’s values — and stressed that editorial independence is “sacrosanct.”
Axel Springer already owns major titles including the mass-circulation Bild tabloid and the Welt newspaper, as well as digital outlets Business Insider and Politico.
Why was the Telegraph for sale?
The search for a new owner began in June 2023, when Lloyds Banking Group effectively repossessed the Telegraph after the Barclay family — long-time owners — fell into arrears on about £1.2 billion of debt secured against the group. RedBird IMI then took control by paying off a roughly £600 million loan to Lloyds, but the titles remained in limbo amid UK concerns about foreign state involvement in national newspapers.
RedBird Capital Partners later tried to finalize a deal that would have involved Abu Dhabi-backed IMI taking a minority stake, but that effort collapsed in November 2025. The owner of the Daily Mail submitted a £500 million offer at one point, but the UK government ordered an investigation over potential effects on the “plurality of views” in Britain’s media.
Separately, British investor Paul Marshall bought the right-wing magazine The Spectator, formerly owned by the Barclays, in 2024. Marshall — who owns GB News and the right-of-center site Unherd — had also previously sought to buy TMG.
Edited by: Wesley Rahn
