A follow-up attempt by RedBird Capital Partners also fell apart last week

Daily Mail owner DMGT has struck a £500m deal to buy the Telegraph Media Group, drawing a line under one of the most drawn-out and politically fraught takeover battles in the British press.

The publisher has entered an exclusive period of talks with RedBird IMI, the Abu Dhabi-linked fund whose own attempt to buy the paper was blocked last year under foreign state influence rules, and expects regulatory filings to follow “quickly”.

DMGT said the agreement would finally give “certainty” to Telegraph staff after two years of turbulence.

Lord Rothermere, DMGT’ s chairman, said he had “long admired” the title and vowed to back its expansion.

“Chris Evans is an excellent editor and we intend to give him the resource

See Full Page