The Telegraph has agreed to be bought by German media group Axel Springer following a roughly three-year long ownership tussle for the newspaper business.
Axel Springer is an international media company that was founded 80 years ago by its namesake in post-war Hamburg, Germany.
The company began as a newspaper publisher and its early works were monthly and weekly German magazines, appealing to readers after years of Nazi propaganda, and later expanding to publish national newspapers.
Mr Springer was “inspired by the tradition of Fleet Street”, according to the firm, referring to the historic publishing centre in London.
It was listed for 35 years on the Frankfurt Stock Exchange and also previously had investment giant KKR as a majority shareholder, before returning to a wholly family-owned structure last year.
Today, it owns a raft of publications including political news site Politico, global business and technology-focused publication Business Insider and Germany’s biggest media brand Bild.
The group, which is based in Berlin and has offices in Hamburg and New York, operates in about 25 countries and has more than 10,000 employees.
Axel Springer’s chief executive Mathias Dopfner said that acquiring The Telegraph means “our dream comes true”, two decades after previously trying to buy the media group.
It had tabled a bid back in 2004 in an attempt to foray into the UK market.
Following the takeover, Axel Springer said it wants to accelerate the expansion of The Telegraph into the US market, leaning on the expertise from Politico and Business Insider to help do so.
The company has also emphasised a commitment to using artificial intelligence (AI) to power digital journalism, believing the technology has a key role for the future of the world’s media.
