US investment firm Redbird plans to buy Britain's Telegraph newspaper
A consortium led by US investment firm RedBird Capital Partners has agreed to buy the publisher of Britain's 170-year-old Daily Telegraph newspaper for about £500 million (€595.5m), the two sides said on Friday.
RedBird said it has reached an agreement in principle to become the controlling owner of the Telegraph Media Group, ending a lengthy takeover saga for the conservative-leaning newspaper.
Gerry Cardinale, founder and managing partner of RedBird, said the sale 'marks the start of a new era for The Telegraph, as we look to grow the brand in the UK and internationally, invest in its technology and expand its subscriber base.'
The Telegraph group, previously owned by Britain's Barclay family, was put up for sale two years ago to help pay off the family's debts. It publishes the daily and Sunday Telegraph newspapers and weekly newsmagazine The Spectator, which are all closely allied to Britain's Conservative Party.
In 2023, there was an offer to buy the publications from RedBird IMI, a consortium backed by RedBird Capital Partners and Sheikh Mansour bin Zayed Al Nahyan, a member of Abu Dhabi's royal family and the vice president of the United Arab Emirates.
However, the consortium pulled out last year following strong opposition from the UK government, which launched legislation to block foreign state ownership of the British press.
Under the deal, Abu Dhabi's IMI will take a minority stake of not more than 15% in the Telegraph as a member of the consortium. The sale must be approved by British regulators.
RedBird has investments in soccer team AC Milan, the parent company of Liverpool football club and film production company Skydance.
Telegraph Media Group chief executive Anna Jones said that 'RedBird Capital Partners have exciting growth plans that build on our success — and will unlock our full potential across the breadth of our business.'
The Spectator was sold separately in September to British hedge fund investor Paul Marshall.
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Yahoo
6 hours ago
- Yahoo
White House may ‘jazz up' Trump's briefings as he ‘doesn't like reading'
The White House's intelligence chief is said to be considering turning Donald Trump's routine briefings into a Fox News-style broadcast, with animations of exploding bombs, to make it easier for him to follow. Tulsi Gabbard is looking to revamp the president's daily brief so it mirrors a television broadcast because 'he doesn't read', NBC News reported, having spoken to five people with direct knowledge of the discussion. One idea includes hiring a Fox News producer to produce a briefing that could include maps and animations of exploding bombs. Currently, the president's daily brief is a digital document that includes written text as well as graphics and images. Mr Trump has read the daily brief 14 times since his inauguration, or on average less than once a week – less than his predecessors. 'The problem with Trump is that he doesn't read,' one source told NBC. 'He's on broadcast all the time.' Ms Gabbard believes that cadence and a distrust of intelligence officials, which stretches back to his first term, may reflect his preference for consuming information in a different form, the sources said. They also said that even if the presentation of the president's daily brief changes, the information included would not. Asked for comment, Olivia Coleman, the press secretary of the director of national intelligence, said in a statement: 'This so-called reporting is laughable, absurd and flat-out false. In true fake news fashion, NBC is publishing yet another anonymously sourced false story.' The president's daily brief was tailored for Mr Trump in his first term to include less text and more pictures. Ms Gabbard is said to have discussed more changes, including entertaining some unconventional ideas, as part of reforming the briefing. Davis Ingle, a White House spokesman, said: 'President Trump has assembled a world-class intelligence team, who he is constantly communicating with and receiving real time updates on all pressing national security issues. 'Ensuring the safety and security of the American people is President Trump's number one priority.' Broaden your horizons with award-winning British journalism. Try The Telegraph free for 1 month with unlimited access to our award-winning website, exclusive app, money-saving offers and more.
Yahoo
6 hours ago
- Yahoo
The UK must raise defence spending
The danger with any defence review is that it ends up fighting the last war or failing to anticipate the next threat. We are about to have the third in 10 years, which suggests the long-term planning that supposedly underpinned the previous reviews has been found wanting. The current review has been undertaken by, among others, Lord Robertson who as Labour defence secretary under Tony Blair oversaw an earlier iteration completed in 1998. It created the Joint Reaction Force and most controversially commissioned two new Queen Elizabeth-class aircraft carriers seen at the time as a sop to Scottish shipyards and Labour's MPs north of the Border. One of those carriers, HMS Prince of Wales, together with accompanying strike group, is on an eight-month deployment to the Indo-Pacific at a time when tensions with China are growing. The US defense secretary Pete Hegseth has somewhat alarmingly suggested that a possible assault on Taiwan is imminent. This has been denied in Beijing but the military build up is ominous and is causing concern in the region. Australia's defence minister has called on China to explain why it needs to have 'such an extraordinary military build-up'. His counterpart in the Philippines has called China 'absolutely irresponsible and reckless' in its the face of this development, the £6 billion investment in carriers able to project UK power as part of a wider coalition designed to stop Chinese expansionism does not seem such a poor investment after all. It has taken close to 30 years for the threat to materialise in the way it has, which is precisely what a strategic review is supposed to do – look to the long term. The latest takes place against the backdrop of Russia's invasion of Ukraine, something that was considered highly unlikely as recently as the 2015 review, even though by then Crimea had been annexed by Moscow. Anticipating the threats to national, regional and global security is difficult but they have not really changed that much in the past three decades. The biggest upheaval is in the willingness of the US to continue bankrolling the rest of the democratic world, which it is no longer prepared to do. The new reality is that much more money needs to be spent on defence than the 2.5 per cent of GDP promised by the Government. Unless we see a financial commitment commensurate to the threat this latest review risks foundering before it takes off. Broaden your horizons with award-winning British journalism. Try The Telegraph free for 1 month with unlimited access to our award-winning website, exclusive app, money-saving offers and more.
7 hours ago
UK latest country to back Morocco's plan in disputed Western Sahara
RABAT, Morocco -- The United Kingdom on Sunday became the latest country to back Morocco's position on the disputed Western Sahara, calling its plan to keep the territory under Moroccan control 'the most credible, viable and pragmatic' way to resolve the decades-long conflict. At a joint press conference in Morocco's capital, British Foreign Minister David Lammy said the United Kingdom was changing its position to support Morocco's plan to offer the area limited autonomy under Moroccan sovereignty. He and Moroccan Foreign Minister Nasser Bourita lauded the two countries' ties on security and trade, noting Morocco's role as co-host of the 2030 FIFA World Cup. "The time for a resolution and to move this issue forward is long-overdue, and would strengthen the stability of North Africa," Lammy said. He also reiterated support for the United Nations-led process and called on Morocco to 'expand on details of what autonomy within the Moroccan State could entail for the region.' Western Sahara is a strip of coastal desert rich in phosphates and fish that the United Nations has considered a 'non-self-governing territory' throughout almost 50 years of dispute. It's claimed by both Morocco and Polisario, a pro-independence group that operates out of refugee camps in southwestern Algeria. The shift fulfills one of Morocco's primary foreign policy objectives and makes the United Kingdom the third permanent member of the United Nations Security Council to back its position, following France and the United States. Since 1991, the United Nations has administered a peacekeeping mission designed to hold a referendum to determine the status of the disputed territory, all of which is under Morocco's control except for a small sliver near the Algerian border. After years of conflict, the area has recently emerged as a hotspot for investment, drawing European and American firms interested in fishing, agriculture and infrastructure projects that would allow for the transmission of wind and solar power. As negotiations have stalled, Morocco has invested heavily in the region and sought support from trade partners. Polisario has taken its fight to international courts, arguing that Morocco does not have the right to trade resources belonging to the Sahrawi people while the conflict remains unresolved. The countries exchange billions of dollars worth of cars, fruits and vegetables. The two are partnering on XLinks, a renewable energy storage and transmission project whose backers hope will power millions of British homes. The British shift angered Algeria, Morocco's regional rival, which in a statement on Sunday blasted Morocco's plan as 'empty of content and incapable of contributing to a serious and credible settlement of the conflict.' Polisario Front representatives didn't respond to questions about the United Kingdom's stance.
