News Corp (NASDAQ:NWSA) and Daily Mail General Trust are being talked about as potential part owners of the Telegraph as opposition to the UAE-backed Redbird IMI takeover increases.
Both Rupert Murdoch’s News Corp and Rothermere-family-owned DMGT have held talks about a potential joint takeover alongside Redbird IMI, according to a report last night.
Bloomberg said both would invest money into the deal to dilute the stake held by Redbird IMI.
IMI, a state-owned Abu Dhabi fund, provided 75% of £1.2bn used by RedBird IMI, a firm run by former CNN chief Jeff Zucker, to buy Telegraph Media from the Barclay family.
Culture Secretary Lucy Frazer is investigating that deal over concerns of political influence.
On Monday, UK media regulator Ofcom and the Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) delivered their reports on the acquisition.
Pressure is now mounting for a formal investigation to be announced, which would effectively scupper the Redbird IMI deal, with more than MPs writing to the Prime Minister calling for the takeover to be annulled.
Labour’s Shadow culture secretary Thangam Debbonaire said the bid will be blocked if it wins the next election.
Whether the injection of the owner of the Times and the Sun in the shape of New Corp and the Daily Mail in the case of DMGT will lessen the anxiety remains to be seen.
Sir Paul Marshall, the hedge fund backer of GB News, is also interested in buying Telegraph Media and has already sparked a war of words with Zucker.
A source close to Sir Paul told Bloomberg: “If it comes up at the right price and at the right time, he will consider it.”