The planned £500m sale of the Telegraph titles to the owner of the Daily Mail is facing an inquiry over competition concerns, the government has announced.

Culture Secretary Lisa Nandy said in a written statement to MPs that she had intervened on public interest grounds, including how the deal could impact the “plurality of views” in UK news media.

Both the Daily Mail and Telegraph papers are right-leaning titles.

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In November, Daily Mail and General Trust (DMGT) agreed to purchase the Telegraph from RedBird IMI after an attempted purchase by the Abu Dhabi-backed investment firm was blocked by the former Conservative government.

DMGT’s other papers include Metro and The i Paper.

It has previously pledged that editorship of The Daily Telegraph and The Sunday Telegraph would remain independent of the enlarged parent firm.

Ms Nandy’s decision means the proposed deal faces scrutiny, on the grounds she has laid out, by the Competition and Markets Authority.

The regulator has until the beginning of June to report back.

The Telegraph titles have been at the centre of ownership uncertainty for many years.

The saga began in June 2023 when they were put up for sale by the Barclay family amid pressure from lenders to claw back unpaid debts within their parent firm.

The RedBird consortium’s bid was withdrawn last November.