The German media group Axel Springer agreed to buy the British newspaper The Daily Telegraph for €663 million (£575 million, $766 million), the companies announced today (6/3).

According to information from Associated Press, the deal ends a long dispute over the ownership of Telegraph Media Group, which publishes The Daily Telegraph, a newspaper with 171 years of history, and another newspaper that circulates on Sundays.

🔴 BREAKING: The Telegraph has been acquired by the German publisher Axel Springer for £575m in a surprise raid that brings a potent new force to Fleet Street

Read more details on the sell here ⤵️https://t.co/9Dp1lqofJI pic.twitter.com/4Mmhk8eyjM

— The Telegraph (@Telegraph) March 6, 2026

Axel Springer stressed that it will invest in the group “to allow it to become the leading centre-right media outlet in the English-speaking world” and to “accelerate” its expansion in the US market.

“More than 20 years ago, we tried to acquire the Telegraph and did not succeed. Now our dream is coming true,” said the CEO of Axel Springer, Mathias Döpfner.

The German company owns titles such as the newspapers Bild and Die Welt, as well as the political information group Politico.

The deal comes after years of uncertainty about the future of the newspapers and cancels a competing bid from the owner of Daily Mail to buy the Telegraph titles.

Closing

Put up for sale in 2023 to help repay debts

The Telegraph group, which previously belonged to the British Barclay family, was put up for sale in 2023 to help repay the family’s debts.

There was a bid to buy the publications from RedBird IMI, a consortium backed by RedBird Capital Partners and Sheikh Mansour bin Zayed Al Nahyan, a member of the royal family of Abu Dhabi and vice president of the United Arab Emirates.

The consortium withdrew in 2024 after strong reaction from the UK Government, which introduced legislation to prevent the ownership of the British press by foreign states.

The right-wing magazine The Spectator, which previously belonged to the Telegraph group, was sold separately in 2024 to British hedge fund investor Paul Marshall.