The Daily Mail and General Trust (DMGT) media group, which includes The Daily Mail, has agreed to buy The Daily Telegraph for 500 million British pounds (650 million USD), the Financial Times (FT) reported, citing its sources.
It is noted that the controlling shareholder of DMGT, Jonathan Harmsworth, who is the great-grandson of the founder of The Daily Mail, has long wanted to acquire Telegraph Media Group, which owns The Daily Telegraph and The Sunday Telegraph. The deal could lead to a merger of two large center-right publications, which raises concerns among the ruling Labour Party. Both newspapers are expected to retain their separate editorial teams.
The parties are finalising the terms of the deal. Following the merger, DMGT could be forced to sell its other two newspapers - Metro and i - to avoid antitrust investigations by media regulator Ofcom and the Competition and Markets Commission.
The Daily Telegraph was founded in 1855 by British Colonel Arthur Slay. As of 2019, the newspaper's daily circulation was approximately 300,000. According to estimates by the online publication Press Gazette, it is now probably around 150,000. The Daily Telegraph is set to be put up for sale in 2023 due to the debts of the Barclay family of entrepreneurs.