Culture secretary to consider investigation into Telegraph takeover by Daily Mail owner

Lisa Nandy will have to assess deal after formal request from the seller, Abu Dhabi-backed RedBird IMI

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The culture secretary, Lisa Nandy, is to consider whether to trigger an investigation into the £500m takeover of the Telegraph titles by the owner of the Daily Mail, after she formally received a request from the up-for-sale publisher’s Abu Dhabi-backed owner.

RedBird IMI, which was forced to put the titles up for sale last spring after the government banned foreign states from owning UK newspapers, has informed Nandy that it wants to transfer its right-to-buy option to Lord Rothermere’s Daily Mail & General Trust (DMGT).