Mathias Döpfner, CEO of Axel Springer SE, The Telegraph’s new owner.
Just over three years ago, Lloyds Banking Group seized control of the parent company which owned UK newspaper The Telegraph, as well as current affairs magazine The Spectator, to recover unpaid debts from the Barclay family which owned the media businesses.
The sales process which then ensued turned out to be a long and complicated one. An initial deal involving US private equity firm RedBird Capital Partners and UAE-based investment firm IMI was struck down by the UK government, owing to concerns over foreign ownership of a major British newspaper. A deal involving Dovid Efune, the British-born owner of the New York Sun, looked likely, but ultimately never materialised. RedBird itself made a revised bid, structured to comply with the UK’s new media ownership rules, but then pulled out following negative coverage from the Telegraph’s own newsroom. Then the Daily Mail’s parent company agreed a deal for The Telegraph, only to be gazumped by European media giant Axel Springer.
At last, it looks like there will be no more twists in the story. Today, Axel Springer announced it is closing its £575 million acquisition of The Telegraph, having received regulatory approval in the UK, Ireland, and Austria.
“The Telegraph has shown remarkable resilience over the past three years and remained both agenda-setting and award-winning,” said Telegraph Media Group CEO Anna Jones. “During this period we have also delivered double-digit digital commercial growth and increased digital subscriptions by a third. Being part of Axel Springer is an exciting next chapter for TMG.”
A deal 22 years in the making
Axel Springer CEO Mathias Döpfner has big ambitions to grow his company’s media portfolio, as part of his stated aim to make Axel Springer the “leading transatlantic media company for digital journalism”. In 2020, the group acquired a majority stake in business news startup Morning Brew (and has since bought the rest of the company), while in 2021 it purchased US-based politics outlet Politico for over $1 billion. Meanwhile Axel Springer’s 2025 split, which separated out the classified ads arm from the company’s media holdings, was designed in part to allow Döpfner to focus on the journalistic side of the company.
With The Telegraph, Axel Springer expands its influence further. The British newspaper has been in Döpfner’s sights for a long time now — he previously made an effort to buy it back in 2004, when his bid was ultimately beaten by the Barclay brothers.
“Today is a day we have worked towards for a long time, and one we will always remember,” said Döpfner. “Axel Springer was founded in 1946 under a British press licence, and The Telegraph was our North Star. Axel Springer and The Telegraph share strong commitments to freedom, values, a tradition of embracing and pioneering technological change, and an entrepreneurial will to actively shape the future. This creates a strong foundation for further accelerating our AI-powered digital transformation. Together we can lead the next generation of trusted media.”
Axel Springer’s plans for its newly owned newspaper include an expansion into the US market, a strengthening of its commercial and subscription offerings, and the launch of new events and premium offerings.
The holding group will also take an active role in The Telegraph’s AI strategy. Döpfner has also been very vocal in his belief that Axel Springer and the news outlets it runs must embrace AI if they’re to thrive. In a 2024 business strategy update, he emphasised that the company needs to “understand and harness the power of artificial intelligence faster and better than our competitors”. By the end of last year, this message had sharpened somewhat to “embrace AI or die”.
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