The owner of the Daily Mail and the Mail on Sunday has bought New Scientist magazine in a £70 million deal.

Daily Mail and General Trust (DMGT) said its consumer media business, dmg media, snapped up the weekly science and technology title from a group of investors led by former Ministry of Defence special adviser Sir Bernard Gray.

Founded in 1956, New Scientist has a weekly circulation of around 120,000, of which just over half are based in the UK.

Lord Rothermere, chairman of DMGT, said: “New Scientist is a world-renowned publication loved by its readers, and we are both thrilled and proud to welcome it to the DMGT family.

“They are a specialised and talented team who showcase the best of science journalism, bringing integrity, curiosity and craftmanship to their work.”

New Scientist makes around 75% of its revenues from subscriptions and is forecasted to make operating profits of around £7 million this year, on revenues of more than £20 million.

It is based in London, with offices in the US and Australia.

Paul Zwillenberg, DMGT chief executive, said the deal was a “natural step in our consumer strategy to improve the quality of our revenues through building up subscriptions and digital capabilities”.

He added DMGT was “committed to supporting the talented team and their plans for the future”.

The deal comes nearly four years after New Scientist was bought by a consortium of investors headed by Sir Bernard from data and information group Relx in 2017.

Sir Bernard also previously led a buy out of the Times Educational Supplement from News Corp.