Legendary newspaper The Telegraph has been bought by a German holding company
The buyer is German media company Axel Springer, which owns Politico, Business Insider, Bild and Die Welt. The object of the purchase is not only the British conservative edition of The Daily Telegraph, but also the associated media assets. but also related media assets.
The deal ends a long-running dispute over the newspaper’s ownership that has lasted several years. According to Reuters, the asset was previously owned by the Barclay family but was put up for sale in 2023 due to debts. An attempt to buy it by the RedBird IMI consortium (with participation of investors from the UAE) failed due to political and regulatory restrictions. Thus, in 2023-2025 the newspaper passed under the control of creditors and then the structure of RedBird IMI, but it was never able to become a full-fledged owner of the publication. The fact is that in 2024 the UK government passed a law that prohibits foreign companies from owning British mass media. This measure was introduced precisely because of the attempted purchase of Telegraph by the RedBird IMI consortium funded by an Abu Dhabi investment fund.
Who is the real seller of The Telegraph
Now a new buyer has been negotiated with the same RedBird IMI consortium, a joint venture between US investment firm Redbird and the Abu Dhabi Media Investment Fund (IMI). Axel Springer CEO Mathias Döpfner said he intends to bring the 170-year-old newspaper to the U.S. market and make it the most widely read center-right publication in the English-speaking world. The experience of Politico and Business Insider, already owned by Axel Springer, along with the popular German newspapers Bild and Die Welt, is expected to help achieve this goal.
He emphasized that “more than 20 years ago the company already tried to buy The Telegraph, but then it failed. Now our dream has come true.
Who else was competing for the media asset
According to DW, in November 2025, the owner of the Daily Mail tabloid, DMGT Group, also agreed with Redbird IMI to buy The Telegraph for £500 million (€577 million), but the Labor government initiated regulatory reviews.
The Axel Springer deal must also be approved by the UK regulator before it can be finally closed.
