Evgeny Lebedev made an offer to buy the Daily Telegraph earlier this year.

It has been revealed that Lebedev, owner of the Evening Standard and the Independent website, made an offer to buy the Daily Telegraph from the Barclay brothers in early 2016.

The offer was turned down, and the Telegraph is not believed to be for sale.

A spokesman for Sir David and Sir Frederick Barclay said: “There are no plans to sell Telegraph Media Group or any part of it and there never have been.”

Richard Addis has stated that he was part of another consortium trying to buy the Telegraph earlier this year.

Addis told the FT: “There didn’t appear to be any appetite to sell. If that changes we would regroup.”

Lebedev bought a controlling share of The Evening Standard in 2009, and in 2010 paid £1 to buy the Independent and Independent on Sunday.

Lebedev and his father have spent £111M on The Evening Standard, the Independent, and London Live TV station since the acquisitions.

However, in February the two businessmen sold the Independent spin-off newspaper the i, and close all print editions of The Independent.

Telegraph Media Group was bought by the Barclay brothers in summer 2004 for a reported £665M from Hollinger.