Culture Secretary looks to end Telegraph ‘limbo’ with ‘timely’ sale to DMGT
Culture Minister Lisa Nandy said on Monday she plans to pave the way for the ‘timely’ sale of the Daily Telegraph to the owner of the Daily Mail.
DMGT has struck a £500m deal to buy the prestigious newspaper, which has long been uncertain about its future. The merger will need to be approved by regulatory bodies and signed off by the Culture Secretary.
Ms Nandy told the House of Commons that the Telegraph had been ‘in limbo for a long time’ and said: ‘It is my intention to build a constructive pathway towards a timely sale in the public interest, without further delay.’
On Saturday, it was announced that DMGT had signed an exclusivity agreement with RedBird IMI, an international consortium that stepped in to buy the Telegraph more than two years ago and has been searching for a buyer ever since.
In a written statement, Ms Nandy said: ‘Nineteen months have passed since RedBird IMI announced its intention to sell. The sale has still not materialized and the situation has become unsustainable.
‘My particular concerns are that prolonged uncertainty will damage the stability of the Telegraph and its staff, and the investment attractiveness of the sector as a whole.’
He said the next step was to prepare the request necessary to obtain the consent of DMGT and RedBird IMI, adding: ‘Given how much time has already passed in this case and the need for the period of uncertainty to end, I expect this request to take no longer than three weeks to submit.’
If approved, the 170-year-old Daily Telegraph will join DMGT’s diverse portfolio, which also includes Metro, The i Paper and New Scientist.
Culture Minister Lisa Nandy said on Monday she plans to pave the way for the ‘timely’ sale of the Daily Telegraph to the owner of the Daily Mail.
Daily Mail owner signs £500m deal to buy The Daily Telegraph
In a statement, the company said: ‘Today’s media environment is unrecognizable from a decade ago.
‘News publishers have to compete with both vast global online platforms and countless digital and social media news sources, some of which are highly unreliable.
‘The role of trusted news media has never been more important and requires news publishers with the scale and experience to compete.’
DMGT Chairman Lord Rothermere expressed his admiration for the Daily Telegraph: ‘My family and I have an enduring love for newspapers and the journalists who make them.
‘The Daily Telegraph is Britain’s largest and highest quality broadsheet newspaper and I grew up respecting it. ‘It has a remarkable history and has played a vital role in shaping Britain’s national debate for decades.’
