Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport (): My Department has today
written to Penultimate Investments Holdings Limited (PIHL) and
the Daily Mail and General Trust (DMGT), the current and proposed
owners of the Telegraph Media Group Holdings (TMGH) in relation
to the Proposed Acquisition of TMGH by DMGT.
In my Written Statement to Parliament and by letters to the
parties, all on 20 January 2026, I confirmed that I was minded to
intervene in and refer the Proposed Acquisition to a Phase 1
investigation under the Enterprise Act 2002. Having given the
parties the opportunity to make representations to me regarding
the concerns raised in my letters to them, and having considered
those representations in detail, I have now reached my final
decision.
I have today informed the parties of my decision to issue a
Public Interest Intervention Notice (PIIN) in relation to the
Proposed Acquisition of TMGH by DMGT.
My decision to issue a PIIN relates to concerns I have that
public interest considerations – as set out in section 58 of the
Enterprise Act 2002 – may be relevant to the Proposed Acquisition
of TMGH by DMGT, and that these warrant further investigation.
The public interest considerations concerned are the need for a
sufficient plurality of views in each UK market for news media;
and, the need for a sufficient plurality of persons with control
of media enterprises serving every different UK audience.
My decision to issue a PIIN triggers a requirement for the
Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) to report to me on
jurisdictional and competition matters; and for Ofcom to report
to me on the media public interest considerations in section
58(2B) and 58(2C)(a) of the Enterprise Act 2002. I have asked
both the CMA and Ofcom to report back to me by 10 June 2026.
My role as the Secretary of State in this process is
quasi-judicial and procedures are in place to ensure that I act
independently and follow a process which is fair, transparent and
impartial.
DCMS will update Parliament after both reports from the
regulators have been received and considered.
The PIIN can be found on GOV.UK.
