Sat, 22 Nov 2025 | BUSINESS SALE
Daily Mail and General Trust has signed an exclusive agreement to acquire Telegraph Media Group for £500 million, marking one of the most significant consolidations in British media and creating a formidable right-leaning publishing powerhouse.
The agreement brings together two of Britain's most influential newspapers under single ownership, with DMGT chairman Lord Rothermere (Jonathan Harmsworth, 4th Viscount Rothermere) poised to control approximately 50 per cent of the UK's daily newspaper market.
The transaction follows the collapse of RedBird Capital Partners' £500 million bid just one week prior, after nearly two years of regulatory uncertainty and internal resistance from Telegraph newsroom staff. RedBird founder Gerry Cardinale withdrew the bid citing sustained opposition from senior Telegraph journalists and the UK government's failure to provide a definitive timeline for regulatory approval.
Telegraph Media Group generated revenue of £279.4 million in 2024, an increase of just 1.2 per cent year-on-year, with operating profit before exceptional items reaching £54.6 million and maintaining a robust 20 per cent operating margin. Digital subscriptions, which numbered 842,000 in December 2024, drove an 18 per cent revenue increase to £81.1 million, whilst digital advertising revenue grew 19 per cent to £20 million.
The Telegraph's total subscription base across all titles reached 1,086,000, representing a 5 per cent year-on-year increase. However, print operations continued their decline, with print subscriptions revenue falling 5 per cent to £69.4 million and print advertising dropping 13 per cent to £29 million.
By comparison, DMGT reported total revenue of £1.1 billion for the year ended 30 September 2024, with consumer media revenue of £613 million and operating profit of £53 million in that division. The company transitioned from a £13 million pre-tax loss in 2023 to a £6 million pre-tax profit in 2024.
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