Lord Rothermere a step closer to privatising Daily Mail

Newspaper tycoon Lord Rothermere was a step closer to taking the company behind the Daily Mail, Mail on Sunday and Metro newspapers private, following the successful listing of used car business Cazoo.

The newspapers are currently part of the Daily Mail and General Trust (DMGT), listed on the stock market since 1932.

DMGT owned a stake in Cazoo and Lord Rothermere had said if the company could join the New York Stock Exchange successfully, the money could help fund the £810 million planned takeover.

It listed in New York on Friday US time, raising one billion dollars (£730 million)

Lord Rothermere first announced that he wanted to take full control of the business in July, but set a series of conditions, including the Cazoo sale.

The other conditions included the sale of DMGT’s insurance division, RMS, which was sold earlier this month, although it is not set to complete until mid-September.

A final condition will be over negotiations with DMGT’s pension trustees, who will be expecting a substantial cash injection into the fund from the deal.

This will be dependent on the size of the pension deficit across three schemes, which have not yet been disclosed, and is expected to closely follow the payment terms agreed to the fund following DMGT’s sale of a 50% stake in Euromoney in 2019.

DMGT has been offloading different divisions and stakes in other business interests for several years, including Hobsons, Genscape and Zoopla, which collectively raised £1.2 billion.

Any announcement about the takeover is expected towards the end of September.