RedBird Capital has abandoned its £500m bid for the Telegraph Media Group, throwing the future of the daily and Sunday titles into further uncertainty. The US private equity group faced intense criticism from the Telegraph newsroom and allies, including former editor Charles Moore and ex-Spectator chief Fraser Nelson, who published articles calling for its links to China to be investigated.
Culture Secretary Lisa Nandy had been expected to decide whether to let the bid progress and whether it should be scrutinised by Ofcom and the competition watchdog. A RedBird spokesperson said: “RedBird has today withdrawn its bid for the Telegraph Media Group. We remain fully confident that the Telegraph and its world-class team have a bright future ahead of them and will work hard to secure a solution which is in the best interests of employees and readers.”
The Daily Telegraph editor, Chris Evans, told staff: “You’ll have seen the news about the sale. On the one hand, it’s no secret that I, all the senior editors and many of our writers had concerns about this bid. On the other hand, it’s also obvious that this process has gone on far, far too long. The Telegraph deserves owners who care about journalism and who will invest.”
RedBird Capital had been the only prospective buyer willing to structure a deal at the £500m value desired by RedBird IMI, a joint venture between RedBird and the UAE’s International Media Investments (IMI), which took control of TMG in 2023. RedBird IMI was forced to put the papers up for sale in April last year after the government legislated against foreign state ownership of UK newspaper assets. IMI is controlled by Sheikh Mansour bin Zayed al-Nahyan, vice-president of the UAE and owner of Manchester City FC.
The potential sale was thrown into doubt last month when the Telegraph linked its presumed new owner to the suspected ringleader of an alleged Chinese spy ring in Westminster. The paper published a photograph of RedBird Capital chair John Thornton shaking hands with Cai Qi, a senior Chinese Communist party official. In August, nine human rights and freedom of expression organisations urged Nandy to halt the takeover and investigate RedBird’s ties to China. A RedBird spokesperson denied any Chinese involvement or influence in the proposed acquisition.
