US investment firm RedBird drops £500m Telegraph takeover bid

US investment firm RedBird Capital has pulled out of the running to buy the Telegraph after previously agreeing to a deal worth around £500 million.

It throws uncertainty over the future ownership of the 170-year-old newspaper business following a tumultuous takeover process.

RedBird said in May that it had reached an in-principle agreement to become the controlling owner of the business.

It had also pledged to increase capital investment into digital operations, subscriptions and journalism as part of efforts to grow the brand internationally.

But on Friday, it said it had withdrawn its bid for the Telegraph Media Group (TMG).

A spokesman for RedBird said: “We remain fully confident that the Telegraph and its world-class team have a bright future ahead of them and we will work hard to help secure a solution which is in the best interests of employees and readers.”

Chris Evans, the editor of the Telegraph, told staff: “You’ll have seen the news about the sale. On the one hand, it’s no secret that I, all the senior editors and many of our writers had concerns about this bid.

“On the other hand, it’s also obvious that this process has gone on far, far too long.

“The Telegraph deserves owners who care about journalism and who will invest.

“We will do our best to ensure this process ends as soon as possible – with a buyer who shares our passion and our ambition for the Telegraph.”

A spokesman for TMG said: “Our immediate priority is to minimise disruption to the business and work with all stakeholders, including DCMS (Department for Culture, Media and Sport), towards a solution.”

The Telegraph has been the subject of a potential takeover for more than two years.

Abu Dhabi-backed RedBird IMI originally agreed to buy the media firm and political publication The Spectator in 2023.

RedBird IMI is a joint venture between New York-based private equity firm RedBird Capital Partners and IMI, a media group state-owned by the United Arab Emirates.

It invests in UK production group All3Media, which is behind programmes including The Traitors and Gogglebox.

But last year, the Government blocked the move after introducing new rules to stop foreign state ownership of the press.

Nevertheless, RedBird Capital’s deal would have seen IMI take a minority stake in the Telegraph as a member of the consortium.

The stake would have been no more than 15%, after MPs backed a change to the law to allow foreign owners to take minority stakes in UK newspapers.

RedBird’s founder Gerry Cardinale had said in May that the deal “marks the start of a new era for the Telegraph”.

The decision to drop the bid throws doubt over the ownership of the newspaper group amid intense scrutiny over the takeover process.