Daily Mail publisher agrees £500m deal to buy Telegraph newspaper

The publisher of the Daily Mail has agreed a £500 million deal to buy Telegraph Media Group.

Daily Mail and General Trust (DMGT) agreed to purchase the Telegraph from RedBird IMI after an attempted purchase by the Abu Dhabi-backed investment firm was blocked by the then Tory government.

DMGT and RedBird IMI have now entered a period of exclusive talks in which they will finalise the deal and prepare regulatory submissions, which they “expect to happen quickly”.

DMGT said this would give “much-needed certainty and confidence” to Telegraph employees after the protracted takeover process.

DMGT chairman Lord Rothermere said: “I have long admired the Daily Telegraph. My family and I have an enduring love of newspapers and for the journalists who make them.

“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.

“Chris Evans is an excellent editor and we intend to give him the resources to invest in the newsroom. Under our ownership, the Daily Telegraph will become a global brand, just as the Daily Mail has.”

The purchase would see the Telegraph become part of DMGT’s stable of media organisations, which also includes Metro, The I Paper and New Scientist.

The media group says it will “invest substantially” in the Telegraph, accelerating its international expansion with a particular focus on the US.

It says the Telegraph would remain editorially independent from DMGT’s other titles.

A spokesman for RedBird IMI said: “DMGT and RedBird IMI have worked swiftly to reach the agreement announced today, which will shortly be submitted to the Secretary of State.”

A Department for Culture, Media and Sport spokesperson said: “The Secretary of State notes the announcement of a prospective new deal. She will 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 says its case for having the deal approved is “compelling” and added that it would comply with the UK’s Foreign State Influence regime as there will be no foreign state investment or capital in the funding structure.

The rules, which are aimed to stop foreign ownership of the press, saw RedBird IMI, which is state-owned by the United Arab Emirates, blocked from purchasing the newspaper in a joint venture with New York-based private equity firm RedBird Capital Partners also worth around £500 million, after a two-year takeover process.

The DMGT deal comes just a week after a previous £500 million deal, which would have seen RedBird Capital take over the Telegraph, was dropped.