Daily Mail Owner Strikes £500 Million Deal to Acquire Telegraph

In a move set to reshape the British media world, Daily Mail and General Trust (DMGT), publisher of the Daily Mail, has agreed to acquire The Telegraph in a £500 million ($650 million) deal with RedBird and its partner IMI. The takeover would create one of the most powerful right-leaning media blocs in the United Kingdom.

The companies expect the transaction to move quickly, though it is likely to face scrutiny from the UK Competition and Markets Authority. DMGT, which already owns the Daily Mail, Metro, and New Scientist, stepped in with its offer just a week after U.S. private equity firm RedBird Capital Partners withdrew from a similar attempt.

DMGT has pledged to maintain editorial independence, insisting that the newsrooms of the Daily Mail and The Telegraph will remain separate. The group also vowed to invest heavily to help The Telegraph pursue its ambition of becoming a global brand.

The company said the takeover would finally give The Telegraph’s staff “certainty” after nearly two years of instability.

A spokesperson for the RedBird–IMI partnership confirmed the accelerated negotiations: “We moved quickly to reach this agreement, which will soon be submitted to the Secretary of State,” the spokesperson said.

The sale comes after a turbulent year for The Telegraph. In April, RedBird and IMI were forced to put the newspaper back on the market after the UK Parliament passed a law prohibiting foreign state ownership of British media outlets. The restriction specifically affected IMI, which is controlled by Sheikh Mansour bin Zayed Al Nahyan, the UAE’s vice president and owner of Manchester City Football Club.

The newspaper’s instability dates back more than two years, when the Barclay family, its long-time owners, fell into severe financial trouble. Their debts led to The Telegraph being placed under independent management.

RedBird and IMI effectively seized control of The Telegraph and its sister publication The Spectator in December last year after repaying the Barclays’ debts, including a £600 million ($753 million) loan, in exchange for ownership rights. The new foreign-ownership restrictions, however, made their hold untenable.

DMGT’s acquisition positions the group at the center of Britain’s conservative-leaning media ecosystem, uniting two of the country’s most influential right-of-center news brands under one corporate umbrella. If approved, the deal could have far-reaching implications for political discourse, competition, and media plurality in the UK.

For now, the industry is watching closely: the merger of two heavyweight titles comes at a moment when British media faces sweeping regulatory, financial, and political pressures, and when ownership matters as much as the stories themselves.