The European media giant Axel Springer has scuppered the Daily Mail owner. But why did it not bid sooner? And what will Brexit-backing readers think?
After three years, a series of failed bids stretching from the US to Abu Dhabi, internal rebellions and even changes in the law, it should be no surprise that the tortured sale of the Telegraph has delivered another spectacular twist with a blockbuster offer from the media giant Axel Springer.
It has torpedoed the long-held dreams of the Daily Mail proprietor, Lord Rothermere, to secure the Daily Telegraph and Sunday Telegraph and begin the next chapter of his family’s love affair with the British press.
It will also put the newspaper, often referred to as “the Torygraph” because of its influence within the British Conservative party, in the hands of a German publishing powerhouse.
Rothermere had made no secret of his desperation to purchase the Telegraph and had worked with banks to raise the cash. However, his bid posed questions about media plurality and the concentration of ownership. Those concerns, shared by the culture secretary, Lisa Nandy, led to his proposed deal being handed to regulators for months of scrutiny.
