Rothermere passes final hurdle to taking Daily Mail private
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Daily Mail and General Trust (DMGT) and the Rothermeres have agreed a recommended cash offer worth 255p, along with a special dividend worth 991p a share.
The Rothermere family announced in the summer that it was considering an £810m bid to take the group private, giving chairman Lord Rothermere full control of DMGT.
This proposal was dependent on the sale of DMGT’s RMS insurance business and the flotation of online car seller Cazoo on the New York stock exchange, which have both now happened, despite a number of delays.
Alongside the recommended cash offer, Rothermere Continuation (a Jersey-registered holding company) and DMGT have agreed that shareholders should get 568p in cash, plus 0.5749 Cazoo Shares for each DMGT Share, through the special dividend.
DMGT, which also publishes the Mail titles and Mail Online, as well as Metro, and the i, say an agreement has been reached with its pension trustees over the deal.
A £412m cash payment will be made into the main DMGT pension scheme, along with restrictions on future debt levels and dividends.
Tim Burt, Vice Chairman at Teneo and expert in M&A, said that this agreement has created significant value for the group, and “derisks them from the volatility of the media industry” by making the company private.
It is expected that the minority shareholders will make a decision whether to accept or decline the recommended acquisition offer by Rothermere Continuation of £389.1m by December or January.
Burt emphasises that the privatisation of the Daily Mail is unlikely to impact the consumer.
However, this news also comes alongside reports that Paul Dacre has departed his role as chair of the Daily Mail’s parent company, with the newspaper also no longer paying for his secretary and chauffeur.
Dacre stood down in 2018, but remained on the pay roll, working with Associated Newspapers.
Although Dacre stood down as editor of the Daily Mail in 2018, he remained on the payroll after being given the largely honorific positions of chair and editor-in-chief of parent company