RedBird IMI expected to take over Telegraph

The firm has said it’s agreed to provide loans to repay debts owed by the previous owners the Barclay family, which would bring the titles out of receivership. If approved, the deal would see RedBird IMI’s chief executive Jeff Zucker – who used to hold the same role at CNN – run the business.  

It comes five months after the Telegraph, as well as magazine the Spectator, were taken over by Lloyds as it sought to recover debts owed by the Barclay brothers, with the bank subsequently launching a sales process to recover more than £1bn that was outstanding.  

The join deal by the investment fund – a joint venture by RedBird Capital and International Media Investments of Abu Dhabi – confirmed it had reached a deal with the Barclays that would see the dbts owned repaid, and the titles taken out of receivership.  

According to the BBC the deal would see RedBird IMI lend the Barclays £600m, secured against the publications, with IMI also providing a similar sized loan against other Barclay-owned assets.  

The agreement is, however, expected to come under regulatory scrutiny which could see culture secretary Lucy Frazer issue a public intervention notice. This would lead to the deal being securitised by the competitions watchdog the Competition and Markets Authority.  

Speaking to The Guardian RedBird IMI said: “Following transfer of ownership, RedBird Capital alone will take over management and operational responsibility for the titles under the leadership of RedBird IMI chief executive Jeff Zucker. International Media Investments will be a passive investor only.  

RedBird IMI are entirely committed to maintaing the existing editorial team of the Telegraph and Spectator publications, and believe that editorial independence for these titles is essential to protecting their reputation and credibility.

“We are excited by the opportunity to support the titles’ existing management to expand the reach of the titles in the UK, the US and other English-speaking countries.”