Daily Mail publisher agrees to buy Daily Telegraph for £500m
The Daily Mail's publisher has decided to buy the Daily and Sunday Telegraph for £500 million. The Daily Mail and General TrUSt (DMGT), a division of the United Arab Emirates and the US private equity company RedBird IMI, which is a joint venture between the UAE and the private equity firm RedBrd Capital Partners, announced that it had begun talks with RedBor Last week, RedBird Capital's attempt to regain control of the Telegraphcollapsed. Culture Secretary Lisa Nandy must sign the agreement. According to a spokesperson, Nandy will "review any new purchaser who buys the Telegraph in accordance with the public interest and foreign state influence media mergers regimes.
DMGT and RedBird IMI have confirmed that they expect the agreement to be finalized
long admired the Daily Telegraphquickly. Lord Rothermere, the DMGT chairman, said he had
and that the deal would bringmuch-needed clarity and hope
to its workers.The Daily Telegraph is the UK's biggest and best quality broadsheet newspaper, and I have grown to revere it,
Chris Evans is a good editor, and we want to give him the tools to invest in the newsroom," he said. The Daily Telegraph will become a global brand under our control, as the Daily Mail has.he said. It has a long tradition and has played a vital role in shaping Britain's national debate for many decades.
Following the purchase, the Telegraph will become part of DMGT's media businesses, including the i Paper, Metro, and New Scientist, as well as the Daily Mail and Mail on Sunday newspapers. According to the corporation, the Telegraph will remain editorially independent from DMGT's other publications. The claim for having the transaction accepted was compelling
and would comply with UK legislation, according to the company, as there will be no foreign state investment or capital in the funding structure. "DMGT and RedBird IMI have quickly to reach the deal, which will shortly be submitted to the secretary of state by a spokesman for RedBritish IMI.
Chris Fox, the Telegraph Lords' spokesperson, said.A step toward a potential agreement to put an end to the skepticism that has dogged the Telegraph's future should certainly be considered,
He pleaded with the antitrust authorities toWell, Liberals aside, we're suspicious about concentrating so much agenda-setting power in the hands of so few.
rigorously investigatethe terms of the deal to "ensure we don't get an even more unbalanced media market for customers and competitors.
Last week, RedBird Capital pulled out of a contract to purchase the Telegraph. It was rejected by politicians in a previous attempt to buy the company by politicians, because Abu Dhabi's IMI company - which is owned in turn by the Abu Dhabi royal family - is majority-funded. A law change meant that foreign sovereign wealth funds could have a maximum interest of 15% in journals or periodicals. Its most recent bid followed that legislation, but it was understood that the government intends to submit the proposal for regulatory review. Sources close to RedBird maintained that they were confident that the bid would have passed a government review process, but that bad news toward the current Telegraph newsroom's bid indicated as a factor in lowering their interest.
Gerry Cardinale, the founder of RedBird, wanted to extend the Telegraph's reach and subscriber base in the United States, recognizing that there is still a market in need. RedBird owns the Italian football team AC Milan, among other investments. The Telegraph has been in limbo for more than two years since the RedBird IMI consortium paid off the debts of the Telegraph's former owners, the Barclay family, in the hopes of purchasing the papers in the future.
