This paper examines how media ownership changes shape political coverage in European democracies, with a focus on cases where takeovers are plausibly politically motivated. Following an inductive, case-based research design, we identify documented instances of politically motivated ownership changes across nine European countries and use them to develop expectations about their impact on coverage. Computational text analysis of online newspaper articles (2010–2024) tracks variation in party visibility, sentiment toward political actors, reporting tone, and thematic framing before and after acquisitions. We then apply the same framework to ownership changes where no political motivation can be established, either because acquisitions were commercially driven or because evidence of political ties is lacking. This comparison makes it possible to isolate effects that are specific to politically motivated takeovers. In doing so, the paper contributes to a more precise understanding of how ownership dynamics influence the political information environment and informs policy debates on safeguarding editorial independence against concentrated and politicized media control.