Daily Mail owner agrees to buy Daily Telegraph for £500m

The publisher of the Daily Mail has agreed to buy the Daily and Sunday Telegraph for £500m.

The Daily Mail and General Trust (DMGT) said it had entered a period of discussion with RedBird IMI, which put the Telegraph up for sale last Spring.

The two parties said they expected the deal to be finalised “quickly”.

The deal needs to be signed off by Culture Secretary Lisa Nandy. A spokesperson said Nandy would “review any new buyer acquiring the Telegraph in line with the public interest and foreign state influence media mergers regimes, set out in legislation”.

DMGT chairman Lord Rothermere said he had “long admired the Daily Telegraph” and the deal would give “much-needed certainty and confidence” to its employees.

He added: “The Daily Telegraph is Britain’s largest and best quality broadsheet newspaper and I have grown up respecting it. It has a remarkable history and has played a vital role in shaping Britain’s national debate over many decades.

“Under our ownership, the Daily Telegraph will become a global brand, just as the Daily Mail has.”

RedBird IMI is a joint venture between the United Arab Emirates and the US private equity firm RedBird Capital Partners.

RedBird Capital itself made its own bid for control of the papers that collapsed last week amid continuing concerns over potential foreign state influence.

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