RedBird Capital Partners has finalized a $675 million agreement to acquire Britain’s Telegraph newspaper after an intense and prolonged acquisition process, the US private-equity firm announced on Friday.
This marks the largest investment in UK print media in ten years, firmly establishing RedBird, founded in 2014 by investor Gerry Cardinale, as the main shareholder of the 170-year-old conservative broadsheet often referred to as the Torygraph.
Under the terms of the deal, International Media Investments, owned by a member of Abu Dhabi’s royal family, Sheikh Mansour bin Zayed Al Nahyan, will obtain a minority stake in The Telegraph, pending court approval, according to RedBird.
RedBird said it is also in talks with UK-based minority investors “with print media expertise and strong commitment to upholding the editorial values of The Telegraph.”
This includes the owner of the UK’s Daily Mail newspaper, who is looking into a nearly 10% stake, according to The Wall Street Journal.
Cardinale’s RedBird has stakes in several media ventures, including Skydance Media, which is awaiting approval of its $8B merger with Paramount Global.
The deal process for the The Telegraph has been anything but smooth-sailing for RedBird, which initially agreed to buy The Telegraph and its smaller sister paper The Spectator through a joint venture with IMI in 2023.
But the British government blocked the takeover that same year following protests from Parliament over foreign entities acquiring UK media, since the deal gave IMI a controlling stake in The Telegraph.
The joint venture, RedBird IMI, retained control of The Telegraph while it sought out alternate bids.
Dovid Efune, the British-born owner of The New York Sun, emerged as a leading contender to buy The Telegraph, but he struggled to secure financing before a deadline last year.
In the meantime, RedBird IMI sold The Spectator for approximately $135 million to Paul Marshall, a British hedge fund manager who owns right-leaning media assets like GB News and UnHerd.
However, the British government announced law reforms last week allowing foreign entities to own stakes of up to 15% in UK newspapers, opening the door for the new Redbird and IMI deal.
RedBird has also invested in Fenway Sports Group, which owns the Boston Red Sox and Liverpool FC; the New York Yankees’ sports network, and All3Media, the UK’s largest independent TV and film production company.
The Telegraph competes with several other right-leaning UK publications, including the Times of London, which is owned by Rupert Murdoch’s News Corp. News Corp also publishes The Post.
RedBird said it plans to invest in The Telegraph’s digital operations and focus on international brand growth, especially in the US.
