LONDON - Three months after the failed takeover of The Telegraph by Abu Dhabi-backed group Redbird IMI, the right-wing British daily newspaper finds itself at the centre of fierce negotiations to find a new owner.

       The Daily Telegraph reported on Aug 12 that a bid led by former chancellor of the exchequer Nadhim Zahawi – in which former prime minister and former Telegraph correspondent Boris Johnson could play a role – has made it onto a shortlist of potential buyers.

       Speculation includes Mr Johnson being made global editor-in-chief of the paper.

       The newspaper, widely considered the “Tory bible” for the Conservatives who were in power for 10 years until July, also reported a competing offer was made by hedge fund manager Paul Marshall, who owns media group Unherd and right-wing TV channel GB News.

       His bid is backed by American billionaire and Republican Ken Griffin, of Citadel hedge fund, a source close to Mr Griffin confirmed to AFP.

       The Financial Times (FT), citing sources close to the process, reported that an offer by British media group National World was also under consideration.

       The sale process is expected to continue into September, according to the FT, which would make it a year since The Telegraph and The Spectator – also part of the media group up for sale – have had an owner.

       Founded in 1855 and owned since 2004 by the Barclay family, The Telegraph was put up for sale last October by British bank Lloyds to pay off debts of around ￡1.2 billion (S$2.03 billion).

       A joint venture by American company Redbird and Abu Dhabi’s International Media Investments (IMI), dubbed Redbird IMI, struck a deal with Barclays at the end of 2023 to pay off its debt, which was completed last December, in exchange for control of the media group.

       Redbird IMI is majority-owned by Sheikh Mansour bin Zayed Al Nahyan, Vice-President of the United Arab Emirates (UAE) and owner of Manchester City Football Club. It is run by former CNN president Jeff Zucker, who had said that Sheikh Mansour would be a “passive investor”.

       However, the prospective takeover by an Emirati-backed fund raised serious concerns about the independence of media, spooking the then Tory government and press freedom activists.

       There was outrage at the notion “that a foreign government – particularly one with such a clear track record of attacks on civil liberties, suppression of free speech and political interference in media – might own the flagship news outlets of the UK conservative movement”, explained Dr Thomas Chivers, a media researcher at Goldsmiths, University of London.

       While an independent regulatory review into the takeover was ongoing, the Tory government amended merger laws to introduce a ban on foreign governments owning any stake in British newspapers.

       The group subsequently dropped the controversial bid at the end of April and is now trying to recover its funds.

       According to Dr Chivers, while the UAE-backed bid would have been “damaging” for press freedom, “the companies that already dominate our newspaper industry have a longstanding record of interfering in editorial independence”.

       “I don’t get much sense that there will be a similarly widespread political outrage about the dangers of foreign ownership if Western media moguls like Germany’s Axel Springer... or Rupert Murdoch sought to grab The Telegraph titles,” Dr Chivers told AFP.

       He also pointed out that while Labour, then in opposition, had put pressure on the Conservative government in 2011 to limit monopolies in the sector, “the new Labour government has made enormous efforts to ‘repair’ its relationship with Britain’s conservative press”.

       While other British media sector takeovers have come under scrutiny, Dr Chivers believes that the Telegraph Media Group sale could be a “significant political flashpoint”.

       Following the Tories’ resounding election defeat, the next owners of the media group seen as the “vanguard” of the British conservative movement – alongside channel GB news – “might well be the new kingmakers of the Conservative party”.

       Redbird IMI and The Telegraph did not immediately respond to AFP’s requests for comment. AFP