Slaughters guides Daily Mail owner on £500m Telegraph deal

Slaughters is leading on the Daily Mail owner's proposed acquisition of the Telegraph Media Group in a £500 million deal, as the long-running ownership saga enters what could be its final phase.

Daily Mail and General Trust (DMGT) has entered exclusive talks with the current owner of the 170-year-old media group, joint venture RedBird IMI, giving both sides a window to complete due diligence and prepare for the regulatory process in a process they hope will "take place at the earliest opportunity".

A period of uncertainty

The deal announcement comes less than two weeks after US private equity firm RedBird Capital - one half of the RedBird IMI joint venture - walked away from its own bid for the Telegraph, largely over optics and regulatory issues as it looked to comply with new UK rules over foreign-state ownership of media titles.

That withdrawal followed last year’s collapse of RedBird IMI’s earlier attempt to take control, after the government intervened to block foreign state ownership of major UK newspapers. RedBird IMI is backed by RedBird Capital and Abu Dhabi’s International Media Investments (IMI).

This time round, the proposed sale appears to have stronger political wind behind it. Culture secretary Lisa Nandy signalled her "intention to build a constructive path towards a timely sale", adding that the Telegraph had "been in limbo for a long time".

It is understood that the Telegraph would remain editorially independent under the new ownership.

Work for law firms

The drawn-out process has generated a steady stream of mandates across the City as ownership of the Telegraph has remained unresolved for more than two years.

Lloyds Banking Group first seized control in June 2023 after the Barclay family - owners since 2004 - failed to repay roughly £1.2 billion in debts secured against the publisher. RedBird IMI later agreed to pay off those loans and take control, before its plans were derailed by the government’s intervention. That deal saw Weil advise the Barclay family and Hogan Lovells advise Lloyds, as Legal Business reported at the time.

The group then sold off the Spectator magazine for £100 million last September, a deal involving a trio of US firms: White & Case for buyer Paul Marshall, Gibson Dunn for RedBird IMI and Goodwin for the magazine’s directors.

Advising

Slaughter and May is acting for DMGT, with a team including M&A partners David Watkins and Simon Tysoe, as well as competition and regulatory partners William Turtle and Alex Bulfin.

Gibson Dunn is once again representing RedBird IMI, according to Law.com. The US firm also advised RedBird IMI on its £1.1 billion acquisition of UK film and production company All3Media in February last year.