Struggling London-listed media group Future rebuffs interest in The Week

The struggling London-listed company which owns Go Compare, the price comparison platform, has rebuffed indicative bid interest in The Week, the current affairs magazine.

Sky News understands that advisers claiming to act for DMGT, the privately owned media group which publishes the Daily Mail, made tentative overtures to Future in recent months about acquiring the title.

Media industry sources said an approach to Future was made within the last three months, and that no live discussions about a deal were ongoing.

One added that a price of roughly £120m had been floated for The Week by the advisers.

People close to DMGT sought to downplay its interest this weekend, saying that the company had been inundated by proposals for it to acquire media assets since its purchase of The Daily Telegraph failed in embarrassing circumstances earlier this year.

Lord Rothermere, DMGT's controlling shareholder, had sealed an agreement to buy the right-leaning broadsheet, but found himself gazumped by a higher bid from Axel Springer, the German publisher.

One person close to Lord Rothermere insisted that DMGT had not made a formal offer to acquire The Week.

DMGT has been left in a robust cash position by its $1bn sale of Trepp, a US data business, earlier this year.

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News of preliminary interest in The Week comes at a difficult time for Future, which has seen its shares more than halve in the last year.

It now has a market capitalisation of just over £250m.

Future and DMGT both declined to comment on Sunday.

(c) Sky News 2026: Struggling London-listed media group Future rebuffs interest in The Week