Nadhim Zahawi, the former Conservative chancellor, is assembling a £600m bid for The Daily Telegraph that could up-end the auction of some of Britain’s most influential media assets.
Sky News has learnt that Mr Zahawi, who left parliament in May after opting not to stand again in his Stratford-on-Avon seat, has approached a number of billionaire backers about helping to finance an offer for the daily newspaper, its Sunday sister title and The Spectator magazine.
City sources said the Reuben family, which owns a vast swathe of property assets and a stake in Newcastle United Football Club, was among those to have been sounded out by Mr Zahawi in recent weeks.
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The former Cabinet minister, who also spent time as business secretary, education secretary and as the government’s vaccines minister during the Covid-19 pandemic, is said to believe the Telegraph has significant scope to boost its profitability by expanding in the US.
He is said to be conducting talks about a bid for the Telegraph directly with International Media Investments (IMI), the Abu Dhabi-based vehicle which holds a majority of RedBird IMI, which had itself bought an option to acquire the newspapers last year.
It was unclear on Monday whether Mr Zahawi was participating in the sale process instigated by RedBird IMI through its banking advisers at Raine Group and Robey Warshaw.
He is not yet thought to have submitted a formal offer but is said to be confident of securing sufficient financing firepower to table a competitive bid.
The identity of Mr Zahawi’s other prospective backers was unclear.
Mr Zahawi declined to comment.
The former chancellor has extensive business relationships in the Middle East, including in Abu Dhabi, where Sheikh Mansour bin Zayed Al Nahyan, the UAE’s deputy prime minister and ultimate owner of Manchester City Football Club, has been influential in shaping its interest in the Telegraph.
RedBird IMI, fronted by the former CNN president Jeff Zucker, stole a march on rival Telegraph bidders last year when it repaid a £1.16bn loan owed by the Barclay family to Lloyds Banking Group, putting it in pole position to take ownership of the media titles.
That plan was scuppered by the Tory government’s decision to amend media ownership laws to prevent a foreign state exerting control over British national newspapers.
Mr Zahawi played a pivotal role last year as an intermediary between the Barclay family and RedBird IMI, and his proximity to the former Telegraph proprietors was underlined in May when Sky News revealed that he was joining Very Group, the family’s online retailer and financial services provider, as its chairman.
He had been tipped to chair the newspaper group if RedBird IMI had been allowed to convert its call option into ownership of the titles.
That announcement came three months after IMI participated – alongside the private equity firm Carlyle – in a £125m package of financial support for Very Group.
The Barclay family is not thought to be playing a direct role in Mr Zahawi’s talks with IMI about the Telegraph.
Sources said the nature of Mr Zahawi’s relationship with IMI meant that he would be in a strong position to acquire the Telegraph if he can finalise the funding required for the deal.
An initial bid deadline on Friday is understood to have seen a string of provisional offers for the Telegraph titles, The Spectator, or both.
National World, the London-listed media group, and Lord Saatchi, the former advertising guru, are among those who are understood to have lodged offers for the newspapers.
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Last week, Sky News reported there was growing uncertainty about whether Sir Paul Marshall, the hedge fund tycoon and GB News backer, would submit a bid for the Telegraph.
Daily Mail & General Trust, the Daily Mail publisher, has ruled out a bid, raising questions about whether it will recoup the £600m it paid to acquire the call option.
The fate of the Telegraph, historically a staunch Conservative Party backer, has been up in the air for more than a year after Lloyds seized control of its parent companies after the Barclays fell behind on debt repayments.
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The family had owned the Telegraph for nearly 20 years, but has seen a number of its assets fall into financial difficulty.
RedBird IMI declined to comment on Mr Zahawi’s interest in the Telegraph.