Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport (): I wish to update the House on
the sale of the Telegraph Media Group. As I noted in my statement
on 24 November(opens in a new
tab), under the terms of the Order made in January 2024,
transfer of the ownership of the Telegraph Media Group is only
permitted with the prior written consent of the Secretary of
State. In my statement I said that I expected a submission of a
request for my written consent to take no longer than three
weeks.
I can confirm that I have received a formal request from the
representatives of RB Investco Limited, the current owners of the
call option to purchase Telegraph Media Group Holdings. The
request is to allow RB Investco Ltd to derogate from the Order to
sell their call option to Daily Mail and General Trust. I will
now give the request thorough consideration.
My priority remains building a constructive path toward a timely
sale, without further delay, that is in the public interest.
As I set out in my previous statement, I will also consider the
potential new merger under the public interest and foreign state
influence regimes in my quasi-judicial role as set out in The
Enterprise Act 2002. I will act independently, review the
evidence with which I am presented and follow a process which is
scrupulously fair, transparent and impartial.
I will update Parliament at the earliest opportunity.
