Redbird withdraws £500m Telegraph bid after six months

Redbird Capital Partners has dropped its £500m bid to take control of The Telegraph six months after saying it had struck a deal to do so.

Redbird decided to ditch its plan following regulatory uncertainty and negative publicity in The Telegraph itself, according to the Financial Times.

Redbird had originally bought The Telegraph as part of Redbird IMI by agreeing a deal to pay off £1.2bn in Barclay family debts.

Redbird IMI must now still find a new owner to recoup at least some of that investment. The Telegraph has been in ownership limbo since Lloyds Banking Group effectively repossessed the business in June 2023 over the Barclay debts.

The original Redbird IMI bid, majority funded by the United Arab Emirates, remains technically active. But it would be a breach of a new UK law banning foreign states from owning more than 15% of UK newspapers.

Telegraph chief executive Anna Jones said: “I will now work with the board of independent directors on next steps and what this means for the future ownership of the business.

“This process has been challenging and unpredictable but your hard work and continued patience is a credit to you all.”

A Redbird Capital Partners spokesperson said on Friday: “Redbird has today withdrawn its bid for the Telegraph Media Group.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 we will work hard to help secure a solution which is in the best interests of employees and readers.”

US-based private investment firm Redbird announced in May it was buying The Telegraph after a failed joint bid with International Media Investments due to the latter’s Abu Dhabi government backing.

IMI was allowed to own up to 15% under new legislation restricting foreign state ownership of newspapers and Redbird was bringing in further investment from Mail and Metro owner DMGT and DAZN owner Sir Leonard Blavatnik.

However the deal still needed approval from the UK Government before it could be finalised.

This month Redbird managing partner Gerry Cardinale issued a plea to get the bid over the line, giving assurances over The Telegraph’s editorial independence by promising to create an independent advisory board.

Redbird had already hired the FT’s head of digital platforms and strategy Matthew Garrahan as operating partner, news and entertainment based in London, leading to rumours that it wanted him to replace Telegraph editor Chris Evans or possibly install him as publisher of the title.

The Telegraph has reported that Cardinale told Evans he would “go to war” with the newsroom over its enquiries into the deal.

The Telegraph has also been reporting on Redbird’s alleged links to both China and the United Arab Emirates.

This week more than 30 peers sent a letter to Nandy saying she must investigate because the bid met the legal threshold of “reasonable grounds for suspecting” a foreign state could gain influence over the title.

Just days ago a Redbird spokesperson said its plan for The Telegraph was “to invest in its high-quality journalism and retain and attract the very best talent to unlock growth, both in the UK and globally”.

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