Daily Mail owner buys i newspaper for £49.6m

Sale expected to be investigated by Competition and Markets Authority

The i newspaper was set up in 2010 as a sister newspaper to The Independent (PA)

The owner of the Daily Mail has bought the i newspaper and its website for £49.6m.

DMGT has said the i will retain its editorial independence, but expects the sale to be examined by the Competition and Markets Authority.

Lord Rothermere, chair of DMGT, said: “We are delighted to welcome the i to our stable of media brands. It is a highly respected publication with a loyal and engaged readership. We are committed to preserving its distinctive, high quality and politically independent editorial style.”

He added: “The acquisition of the i is both strategically and financially compelling for DMGT and there is scope for potential synergies in the future, notably from DMG Media’s existing infrastructure and in advertising sales.”

The sale comes a year after former owner Johnston Press went into administration after failing to find a buyer for the debt-saddled publication.

This summer it was reported that JPIMedia, which was formed by Johnston Press bondholders who bought the assets of the publisher last year, was in talks to sell the paper, along with its regional titles, despite telling staff that no formal sales process was open.

The i was launched in 2010 as a sister paper to The Independent, but was sold in 2016.

Editor of the i, Oly Duff tweeted: “i will be an independent editorial operation like other brands at DMG Media – which include Daily Mail & Mail on Sunday which fought on opposing sides of the Brexit campaign; socially liberal and politically neutral Metro.”

He added: “No change to staff employment T&Cs, pay, roles, editors etc. Freelance colleagues unaffected. Syndication deals with FT, Economist, Indy, The Arts Desk, continue. Our recruitment continues. Still based in Derry Street with satellites in Edinburgh, Manchester etc. Business as usual.”

Paul Zwillenberg, chief executive of DMGT, said: “I want to emphasise that the editorial team will retain its complete independence. We understand it is vital to preserve the distinctive, high-quality and politically independent editorial style of the i.”

He added: “We do expect there to be cost synergies as we believe that DMG Media’s existing back-office infrastructure can support the i, which will deliver some savings. Also, there are likely to be some synergies around printing, production and distribution, but they will take a little time to come through.”

In a statement, DMGT said: “The i has an established reputation for quality journalism with retail sales of approximately 170,000 newspapers each weekday and over 190,000 copies of the i weekend each Saturday.

“The website, inews.co.uk, attracts approximately 300,000 daily unique browsers. In 2018, the i generated £11m in cash operating income and operating profit from £34m revenue.”