Probe ordered into Daily Mail owner's £500m takeover of Telegraph

An investigation into the proposed £500m takeover of the Telegraph by the owners of the Daily Mail has been ordered by the government on public interest and competition grounds.

Culture Secretary Lisa Nandy said she had launched the probe over concerns the deal could affect the "plurality of views" in the UK media.

Competition issues will be assessed by the Competition and Markets Authority (CMA), while media regulator Ofcom will look at the public interest impact, Nandy said.

Daily Mail and General Trust (DMGT), whose titles also include the i Paper, the New Scientist and Metro, agreed to buy the Telegraph in November after years of uncertainty over the paper's future owner.

When DMGT announced the takeover, it said the Telegraph would remain editorially independent from its other titles.

In issuing the probe into the deal, Nandy said: "The public interest considerations concerned are the need for a sufficient plurality of views in each UK market for news media; and, the need for a sufficient plurality of persons with control of media enterprises serving every different UK audience."

She said she had asked the CMA and Ofcom to report back to the government by 10 June.

The intervention is the latest twist in the Telegraph's sale, which was put up for sale in 2023 by lenders for previous owners, the Barclay brothers.

RedBird Capital's own bid for control of the Telegraph collapsed in November after the US firm pulled out.