Pandemic plunderers target Daily Mail
Share in Daily Mail and General Trust jumped by 10% this week after rumours that the newspaper business would be taken private.
Shares in the Daily Mail and General Trust (DMGT) jumped by 10% this week after the group said that the Rothermere family, which owns 36% of it, “may take the... newspaper business private if the sale of its insurance-risk unit and online car seller Cazoo goes through”, says Ed Cropley on Breakingviews.
If this happens, shareholders will get 251p a share as well as a “special dividend” of 610p and DMGT’s stake in the insurance company Cazoo. This amounts to “nearly £12.70 per share”, a sizeable premium over the £10.60 the stock traded at before the news was announced.
DMGT’s decision to take itself private is ironic, given the Daily Mail’s “crusade” against “pandemic plundering” – the takeover spree “that has seen more than 100 UK companies disappear from the stockmarket”, says Ben Marlow in The Daily Telegraph.
MoneyWeek
Subscribe to MoneyWeek today and get your first six magazine issues absolutely FREE
Sign up to Money Morning
Don't miss the latest investment and personal finances news, market analysis, plus money-saving tips with our free twice-daily newsletter
Don't miss the latest investment and personal finances news, market analysis, plus money-saving tips with our free twice-daily newsletter
But with the attractions of being a listed entity “not what they once were”, it’s hard to understand why DMGT has remained public for so long. It “hasn’t raised any capital from shareholders in the... 90 years since floating”. And its shares are on a discount thanks to an “unusual governance set-up”: the owner has 36% of the stock, but all the voting rights.
The family’s voting rights mean that any attempts to stop the deal may be “futile”, says Nils Pratley in The Guardian. But shareholders should ask some “awkward questions”. The 251p a share they are being offered for the paper and related businesses “does not look generous” when you consider that earnings at the Daily Mail’s titles and the exhibitions business are in “recovery mode from the pandemic”.
-
‘Why I have ditched my Help to Buy ISA for cash savings and the stock market’Without the 25% bonus, my Help to Buy ISA is effectively redundant, says MoneyWeek writer Sam Walker.
-
Is your inheritance tax allowance cut if you sell to downsize or sell your home to pay for care?Downsizing relief is a little-known benefit that could save your loved ones tens of thousands of pounds in inheritance tax after you’ve died.
-
Stock markets have a mountain to climb: opt for resilience, growth and valueOpinion Julian Wheeler, partner and US equity specialist, Shard Capital, highlights three US stocks where he would put his money
-
The steady rise of stablecoinsInnovations in cryptocurrency have created stablecoins, a new form of money. Trump is an enthusiastic supporter, but its benefits are not yet clear
-
SRT Marine Systems: A leader in marine technologySRT Marine Systems is thriving and has a bulging order book, says Dr Michael Tubbs
-
Goodwin: A superlative British manufacturer to buy nowVeteran engineering group Goodwin has created a new profit engine. But following its tremendous run, can investors still afford the shares?
-
A change in leadership: Is US stock market exceptionalism over?US stocks trailed the rest of the world in 2025. Is this a sign that a long-overdue shift is underway?
-
A reckoning is coming for unnecessary investment trustsInvestment trusts that don’t use their structural advantages will find it increasingly hard to survive, says Rupert Hargreaves
-
Metals and AI power emerging marketsThis year’s big emerging market winners have tended to offer exposure to one of 2025’s two winning trends – AI-focused tech and the global metals rally
-
8 of the best houses for sale with beautiful fireplacesThe best houses for sale with beautiful fireplaces – from a 15th-century cottage in Kent to a 17th-century palazzo in Oxfordshire
