In a fresh twist to the protracted sale of The Telegraph, German media giant Axel Springer has joined a rival bidding consortium led by Dovid Efune, aiming to hijack the agreed deal currently held by Daily Mail owner DMGT.
As first reported by the Financial Times, the consortium – led by the owner of the New York Sun – has submitted a revised £500 million offer to seller RedBird IMI. While the total valuation matches the bid from Lord Rothermere’s DMGT, Efune’s group claims its proposal is superior because it offers more cash upfront and contains “minimal debt.”
Crucially, the consortium stated this week that the bid is now “fully funded.” Previous attempts by Efune had struggled to prove total financial backing, but the addition of Axel Springer, the publisher behind Politico and Business Insider as well as German titles Bild and Die Welt, provides significant institutional weight. The group also includes Baltimore Sun owner David Smith and British investor Jeremy Hosking.
The emergence of this fully funded rival bid comes at a precarious time for DMGT. Last week, UK Culture Secretary Lisa Nandy referred the DMGT deal to regulators over competition concerns, noting that the merger would give Lord Rothermere control of over half the daily national print market.
While RedBird IMI is currently committed to the DMGT deal, the Efune-Springer alliance is positioned as a “cleaner” alternative with fewer regulatory hurdles. With the government investigation expected to last until June, the battle for one of Britain’s most influential broadsheets remains far from settled.
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