Mail’s £500m bid for Telegraph seeks to raise cash as clock ticks down

Even if Lord Rothermere puts funding in place by the deadline, concerns over competition mean the deal is still unlikely to be waved through, says Stephen Armstrong

- Stephen Armstrong

The Daily Mail and General Trust (DMGT) is facing a challenging week in its deal to buy the Daily Telegraph.

Lord Rothermere is attempting to get funding for his £500m bid for the title in place before the Department for Culture, Media and Sport’s deadline of 15 December.

With funding for the deal not yet secured, City analysts have concerns. DMGT has been telling them it plans to provide all the funding, either through borrowing or by selling assets to raise cash. Although DMGT has a healthy balance sheet, it does not have anything close to £500m, and members of the previous RedBird-led bid, including Sir Leonard Blavatnik, are not involved this time round.

In October, Lord Rothermere restructured his business, creating a new company, called Rothermere Continuation Holdings, which owns DMGT Group, owner of the Daily Mail, Metro, the i and the New Scientist, as well as property information services and its events business in Abu Dhabi and Dubai. The new holding company recorded a profit of £902m before tax.