{"id":241867,"date":"2025-11-03T19:07:07","date_gmt":"2025-11-03T19:07:07","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/241867\/"},"modified":"2025-11-03T19:07:07","modified_gmt":"2025-11-03T19:07:07","slug":"telegraph-bidder-reported-for-potential-breach-of-editorial-independence-rules-telegraph-media-group","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/241867\/","title":{"rendered":"Telegraph bidder reported for potential breach of editorial independence rules | Telegraph Media Group"},"content":{"rendered":"

The boss of the US private equity group bidding for the Daily Telegraph<\/a> has been reported to the UK government for potentially breaching rules protecting the newspaper\u2019s editorial independence, after allegedly threatening to \u201cgo to war\u201d with the title\u2019s newsroom.<\/p>\n

The Guardian understands that the independent directors of Telegraph Media Group<\/a> (TMG) have alerted the Department for Culture, Media and Sport (DCMS) about supposed comments made by RedBird Capital\u2019s Gerry Cardinale to the Telegraph\u2019s editor, Chris Evans. The government department is thought to be considering if there has been a breach of the legislation.<\/p>\n

The title\u2019s former editor Charles Moore disclosed in his Telegraph column last month that inquiries by the paper\u2019s journalists into RedBird Capital\u2019s bid had prompted Cardinale to \u201cthreaten he would go to war with our entire newsroom\u201d<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Moore added there had been \u201capparent media briefings\u201d that Evans would be removed and replaced as editor \u2013 although that was followed up by a column the Telegraph published by Cardinale last week.<\/p>\n

In it, the private equity boss said: \u201cWe won\u2019t ever compromise the editorial independence of the Telegraph<\/a>. At RedBird, we are very clear about one fundamental premise: don\u2019t invest in a newspaper if you want to influence it \u2013 that will kill the investment thesis and is just bad business.\u201d<\/p>\n

Last year the government introduced a statutory instrument compelling parties<\/a> to \u201ctake all reasonable steps to retain key staff within the Telegraph Media Group business and to ensure that no key staff are removed from their position\u201d.<\/p>\n

The order added: \u201cAt all times, the \u2026 acquiring entities must keep the secretary of state informed of any material developments relating to the Telegraph Media Group business, which includes details of key staff who leave or join the Telegraph Media Group business.\u201d<\/p>\n

The referral to the culture department follows yet another eventful few weeks in the saga of the acquisition of the Telegraph, which has come under scrutiny as the initial acquisition was funded by foreign state interests. Last week the newspaper linked its presumed new owner to the suspected ringleader<\/a> of the alleged Chinese spy ring in Westminster.<\/p>\n

The Telegraph\u2019s future has been uncertain since the Barclay family lost its grip on the media group in 2023<\/a> in a row about unpaid debts. An organisation connected to Redbird Capital, called Redbird IMI, took control<\/a> of the newspaper titles later that year.<\/p>\n

However, RedBird IMI was forced to put the papers up for sale in spring 2024 after the then Conservative government passed a law blocking foreign states or associated individuals from owning newspaper assets in the UK<\/a>. Redbird IMI is in the process of selling TMG to RedBird Capital \u2013 which holds various investments, including a stake in the parent company<\/a> of Liverpool football club.<\/p>\n

While a quarter of RedBird IMI\u2019s funding came from RedBird Capital, the remainder was sourced from International Media Investments<\/a> (IMI), which is controlled by Abu Dhabi\u2019s Sheikh Mansour bin Zayed al-Nahyan, the vice-president of the United Arab Emirates and owner of Manchester City FC.<\/p>\n

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The Labour government eased the ban<\/a> on foreign governments owning stakes in UK newspapers this year by allowing them to hold up to 15% of titles, ultimately allowing the RedBird Capital offer that would include IMI retaining a 15% Telegraph stake.<\/p>\n

The DCMS and a spokesperson for TMG\u2019s directors declined to comment on the report to DCMS by the Telegraph\u2019s directors.<\/p>\n

A spokesperson for RedBird Capital said: \u201cRedBird is a private equity fund, not a proprietor, and the mandate of the fund is to grow the value of its investments. The way to grow the value of the Telegraph is to grow subscribers and the way to do that is to embrace and support the values that matter most to subscribers \u2013 namely, free speech and independent journalism.<\/p>\n

\u201cAs such, we have committed to establishing an independent advisory board tasked with upholding the highest standards of journalistic integrity. The deputy chairman of the Telegraph Media Group, Lord Black, has agreed to design its framework.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"The boss of the US private equity group bidding for the Daily Telegraph has been reported to the…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":241868,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[49,50,51,47,52,48],"class_list":{"0":"post-241867","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-headlines","8":"tag-headlines","9":"tag-news","10":"tag-top-news","11":"tag-top-stories","12":"tag-topnews","13":"tag-topstories"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/241867","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=241867"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/241867\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/241868"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=241867"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=241867"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=241867"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}