A proposed $655 million offer to buy The Daily Telegraph newspaper made by U.K.-based Daily Mail and General Trust in November awaits the okay from British regulators. Photo by Andy Rain Illustration\/EPA<\/p>\n
Nov. 22 (UPI) — Two of the United Kingdom’s largest media outlets and traditional competing newspapers would unite under a proposed $655 million sale.<\/p>\n
Publisher Daily Mail and General Trust announced it has begun negotiations with RedBird IMI to buy the Daily and Sunday Telegraph newspapers for $655 million\n<\/p>\n
RedBird IMI is a joint venture between U.S.-based RedBird Capital Partners and the United Arab Emirates-based IMI.<\/p>\n
“The Daily Telegraph is Britain’s largest and best quality broadsheet newspaper, and I have grown up respecting it,” DMGT Chairman Jonathan Rothermere said in a statement shared with The New York Times<\/a>.\n<\/p>\n “It has a remarkable history and has played a vital role in shaping Britain’s national debate over many decades,” Rothermere added.<\/p>\n Any agreement would require the approval of Britain’s Culture Secretary Lisa Nandy to ensure the proposed buyer fulfills “the public interest” and prevents “foreign state influence” of media, the BBC reported<\/a>.<\/p>\n Such scrutiny prompted U.S.-based RedBird Capital Partners to withdraw a prior offer to buy the news outlet outright.<\/p>\n