Freshfields and Gibson Dunn advise on Axel Springer’s £575m Telegraph acquisition

Freshfields and Gibson Dunn & Crutcher have scored roles in the £575m all-cash acquisition of Britain’s Telegraph Media Group (TMG) by German publisher Axel Springer. 

Freshfields is counselling Axel Springer – owner of titles including Politico, Business Insider and Bild – on the deal, which has scuppered a rival bid from the owner of the Daily Mail and ends a tumultuous sales process that has meant TMG has not had a permanent owner for about three years. The team is being led from London by M&A partner Oliver Lazenby and antitrust partner Alastair Mordaunt. 

Meanwhile, Gibson Dunn is acting for RedBird IMI, the US-Emirati joint venture which took control of TMG in 2023 after agreeing to pay debts owed by its previous owners, the Barclays family. The team is being led by private equity M&A partner Robert Dixon and competition partner Ali Nikpay, both of whom work out of London.  

RedBird IMI was forced to put the group up for sale after the British government passed a law prohibiting foreign states from owning newspaper assets in the UK. New York-based RedBird Capital, the junior partner in the RedBird IMI venture, led a consortium that tabled a £500m deal for TMG last year, but pulled out in November. 

Lord Rothermere’s Daily Mail & General Trust (DMGT) struck a £500m deal for the group later that month, counselled by a Slaughter and May team led by M&A partners David Watkins and Simon Tysoe. RedBird IMI was again counselled by Gibson Dunn, according to law.com. The US firm also advised RedBird IMI on its £1.1bn acquisition of UK film and production company All3Media early last year.

Meanwhile, for Axel Springer, the acquisition is the largest since its roughly £750m purchase of Politico in 2021, when it was advised by a Freshfields team led by corporate and M&A partner John Fisher, according to Reuters. Politico’s owners were advised by Pillsbury. 

Axel Springer’s acquisition of TMG is not expected to face regulatory hurdles, unlike DMGT’s bid, which was referred to the UK competition and media regulators for investigation last month by culture secretary Lisa Nandy.

In a company statement, Alex Springer said it would back an investment programme into TMG to “grow and expand the business”, including to “turbocharge” its expansion into the US market.