* Shares rise as much as 10% in early trade
* Rothermeres' bid conditional on certain deals going
through
* DMGT plans special dividend from Cazoo listing, RMS sale
(Adds details, backgound)
July 12 (Reuters) - The founding family and top investor in
the Daily Mail's owner is considering taking the British
newspaper publisher private in a $1.1 billion deal if certain
conditions are met, the company said on Monday.
The Daily Mail and General Trust (DMGT) said the
Rothermeres, who own 28% of the company, are ready to make a
cash offer to buy the group outright, provided it sells its RMS
insurance risk business and takes its partially-owned online car
seller Cazoo public.
Shares in DMGT, which publishes the Daily Mail tabloid, The
Mail on Sunday and MailOnline, climbed as much as 10% to their
highest in more than two decades in early trading but were last
up 0.6% by 0854 GMT.
The Daily Mail was first published in 1896 by the ancestors
of current DMGT chairman Jonathan Harmsworth, the Viscount
Rothermere.
Despite years of falling sales, it became the UK's
top-selling newspaper as of last June after overtaking tabloid
rival The Sun. The MailOnline is also among the most visited
English-language news websites globally.
DMGT, which has been slimming down in the last few years to
focus on its mainstay news business, is still in talks to sell
RMS and could complete the sale before end-September if a deal
was reached soon, it said.
Without its interests in Cazoo and RMS - which offers
risk-modeling for businesses - DMGT would comprise of its
dominant news publishing division besides its events and
property information businesses.
DMGT said it would return any proceeds from a possible RMS
sale and Cazoo's listing to shareholders through an estimated
610-pence-a-share dividend that it has discussed with the
Rothermeres.
The company is eyeing a $1.35 billion payout from the Cazoo
flotation, that is expected in the July-September quarter.
(Reporting by Muvija M and Pushkala Aripaka in Bengaluru;
Editing by Rashmi Aich and Louise Heavens)
