Culture secretary to consider investigation into Telegraph takeover by Daily Mail owner | Telegraph Media Group
Culture secretary Lisa Nandy will consider whether to launch an investigation into the £500 million purchase of Telegraph books by the owner of the Daily Mail after receiving a formal request from the Abu Dhabi-backed owner of the for-sale publisher.
RedBird IMI, which was forced to put the newspapers up for sale last spring after the government banned foreign states from owning newspapers in the UK, told Nandy that it wanted to assign the right-to-buy option to Lord Rothermere’s Daily Mail & General Trust (DMGT).
The move comes after DMGT has been in exclusive talks with RedBird IMI since last month, finalizing a £500 million financing package that includes cash, existing overdraft provision and a loan from its existing banker NatWest.
As part of the deal, RedBird IMI, which had failed to secure its own £500m deal with Gerry Cardinale’s US-based RedBird Capital, agreed to wait two years before receiving the final £100m from DMGT.
The final payment is likely to be covered by a DMGT bond with Deutsche Bank that matures in 2027.
“DMGT is determined to move quickly towards a resolution that brings much-needed certainty to Telegraph Media Group (TMG) employees after a long period of instability,” a DMGT spokesman said. “DMGT reiterated that the acquisition would be completely free of any prohibited foreign government influence and that the Telegraph would remain editorially independent while benefiting from significant investment to accelerate its international growth.”
Nandy will formally notify parliament that he has received this request from RedBird IMI, which took control of the deeds in 2023 after the previous owners, the Barclay family, paid off their debt to Lloyds Bank.
Nandy will then have to decide whether to trigger a public interest interference notice (PIIN) to commission Ofcom, the media regulator and the Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) to investigate potential pluralism and competition issues.
The deal will bring together the Daily Telegraph, Sunday Telegraph, Daily Mail, Mail on Sunday, Metro, i and New Scientist under Rothermere ownership.
Analysts believe Nandy will trigger the PIIN, which will begin an investigation process that will last up to 40 business days and will have the option to request an in-depth second phase investigation depending on the findings.
If the deal is approved, Nandy will lift the pre-emptive order imposed by former culture minister Lucy Frazer to prevent RedBird IMI from making any significant changes to the Telegraph’s structure, staff or management without government permission.
Independent analyst Alice Enders said: “My view is that the deal will of course be reviewed, rivals may complain, but there is a strong basis for approval.” “I do not think a second phase will be deemed necessary and therefore there will be no solutions such as selling other titles that are required in competitive areas.”
DMGT said it would ensure the Telegraph “remains the beacon of trusted news and commentary” amid competition from digital sources.
