Telegraph buyers take step towards £500m deal with Whitehall filing

The American investors who person agreed to go the caller owners of The Daily Telegraph person edged person to gaining power of the paper by formally notifying the authorities of the deal.

Sky News understands that lawyers acting for RedBird Capital Partners, which volition ain a bulk involvement successful the steadfast if the woody is approved, submitted their elaborate proposals to the Department for Culture, Media and Sport (DCMS) successful the past fewer days.

The filing means that Lisa Nandy, the civilization secretary, indispensable determine whether to contented a caller Public Interest Intervention Notice (PIIN) which would trigger further investigations into the takeover.

The notification by RedBird Capital's lawyers should pave the mode for the lifting of an interim enforcement bid (IEO) imposed by Lucy Frazer, the past Conservative civilization secretary, successful December 2023, which prevented the acquirers from exerting immoderate power implicit the Telegraph.

Insiders judge that the removal of the IEO volition effect successful the DCMS issuing a caller PIIN, which would punctual investigations by Ofcom and the Competition and Markets Authority into the £500m takeover.

A erstwhile PIIN was issued successful January 2024 erstwhile RedBird intended to bargain the Telegraph titles successful conjunction with Abu Dhabi state-controlled capitalist IMI.

Following a fraught legislative battle, IMI is present restricted to owning a maximum 15% involvement successful the newspapers - which it intends to get arsenic portion of the RedBird-led consortium.

Sky News has already revealed that Sir Leonard Blavatnik, proprietor of the DAZN sports streaming platform, and Daily Mail proprietor Lord Rothermere are preparing to bargain number stakes arsenic portion of the RedBird-led transaction.

RedBird said successful May that it was "in discussions with prime UK-based number investors with people media expertise and beardown committedness to upholding the editorial values of the Telegraph".

The Telegraph's ownership has been successful a authorities of limbo for astir two-and-a-half years aft its genitor institution was forced into insolvency by Lloyds Banking Group, which ran retired of patience with the Barclay family, the newspaper's long-standing owner.

RedBird IMI, a associated task betwixt the 2 firms, paid £600m successful 2023 to get a telephone enactment that was intended to person into ownership of the Telegraph newspapers and The Spectator magazine.

The Spectator was sold past twelvemonth for £100m to Sir Paul Marshall, the hedge money billionaire, who has installed Lord Gove, the erstwhile furniture minister, arsenic its editor.

In July, the House of Lords approved authorities that volition let IMI, which is controlled by Sheikh Mansour bin Zayed Al Nahyan, the vice-president of the United Arab Emirates and eventual proprietor of Manchester City Football Club, to clasp a number stake.

Other bidders had tried to gatecrash the Telegraph deal, with the tract of rival contenders led by Dovid Efune, the proprietor of The New York Sun.

His cardinal backer - the hedge money laminitis Jeremy Hosking - precocious told Sky News their bid was "ready to go" if the RedBird-led transaction fell apart.

Announcing its statement to get the Telegraph titles successful May, Gerry Cardinale, laminitis of RedBird Capital, said it marked the "start of a caller era" for 2 of Britain's astir salient newspapers.

Mr Cardinale said aft the Lords vote: "With authorities present successful place, we volition determination rapidly and successful the forthcoming days enactment with DCMS to advancement to completion and instrumentality caller ownership for The Telegraph."

Senior Telegraph executives and journalists are said to beryllium frustrated astatine the gait of the process.

None of the parties progressive successful the Telegraph ownership concern would comment, portion the DCMS declined to comment.