LORD Rothermere upped his offer yesterday to shareholders as he seeks to privatise the Daily Mail Group Trust (DMGT).

DMGT's chairman Rothermere has increased his final offer by 5.9 per cent and has agreed to pay £2.70 for each issued and non-issued share after shareholders were underwhelmed by a previous offer of £2.55 per share.

Rothermere will also stump up £40m to pay shareholders a final dividend, with investors given a deadline of 1pm on 16 December to accept the offer and grant him full control of Daily Mail publisher DMGT.

The company's non-conflicted directors have judged the offer to be "fair and reasonable."

Abi Watson, media analyst at Enders Analysis, said that the move is "no surprise," and stated: "It is all about nudging the institutional investors."

The Rothermere family founded the Daily Mail in 1896 and the parent company DMGT in 1932. The publisher owns popular media titles including the Metro, i Paper and the Daily Mail.

(c) 2021 City A.M., source Newspaper