Britain’s culture secretary, Lisa Nandy, has signalled she may step in to review the proposed £500 million takeover of the Daily Telegraph by Daily Mail owner DMGT, a move that could open

the deal to fresh regulatory scrutiny.

In a statement issued on Tuesday, Nandy said she was “minded” to intervene on public interest grounds, highlighting concerns about maintaining a plurality of views in the British press and ensuring a sufficient diversity of ownership and control. Such an intervention would formally trigger assessments by media and competition regulators.

The Telegraph has been without a permanent owner since 2023, when RedBird IMI — a joint venture between US-based RedBird Capital and Abu Dhabi’s International Media Investments — sought to acquire the title. That deal ultimately stalled after the UK government introduced new rules limiting foreign ownership of British newspapers, reflecting growing political unease about overseas influence in domestic media.

While Nandy said she was not currently inclined to act under the separate Foreign State Influence regime, she stressed that her position could change if new evidence emerged pointing to foreign state involvement in the transaction.

“It is important to note that I have not taken a final decision on intervention at this stage,” Nandy said, adding that her “minded to” letter gives the parties involved until January 26 to respond before she reaches a final conclusion.

If the culture secretary does decide to issue an Intervention Notice, media regulator Ofcom would be tasked with examining the public interest implications of the deal. At the same time, the Competition and Markets Authority would assess whether the takeover constitutes a relevant merger and what impact it could have on competition in the UK media market.

The decision is being closely watched across the industry, with the future ownership of one of Britain’s most influential newspapers once again hanging in the balance. Photo by Fred Romero from Paris, France, Wikimedia commons.