Britain said on Tuesday it would refer the UAE-led takeover of the Telegraph for a lengthy review, a move that will effectively kill the deal because a law banning foreign governments owning newspapers is due to come into force in coming months. Abu Dhabi-backed RedBird IMI took control of the Telegraph titles and the Spectator...
Mansions, university facilities, think tanks, sports teams — the U.K. is no stranger to Gulf money and multibillion-dollar investments streaming from Qatar, the United Arab Emirates and Saudi Arabia into British institutions. But newspapers? That’s a hard stop, apparently. The latest investment pursuit flowing westward from one of the U.K.’s close Gulf allies, the UAE,...
Foreign state control of British newspapers is to be outlawed, effectively blocking the UAE’s attempted takeover of The Telegraph. Ministers revealed plans on Wednesday “explicitly to rule out newspaper and periodical news magazine mergers involving ownership, influence or control by foreign states”. The move, announced by Lord Parkinson, the culture minister, was made to see off a...
11 March is the fated date on which Ofcom, the media regulatory body from the UK, will release the report concerning the desirability of the acquisition of The Daily Telegraph and The Spectator by an UAE investment fund. In the meantime, the debate between those against the buyout and those supporting it is shaping up...
Whether to allow the UAE to invest in British nuclear – and newspapers – is a national security question. There aren’t many countries in the world willing to roll out the red carpet for Vladimir Putin, but the Emiratis did so with gusto when he visited Abu Dhabi last month. They laid on a 21-gun salute as...
UAE-backed deal could be disastrous for UK government and freedom of press, opponents say. MPs have attacked the proposed UAE-backed takeover of the Telegraph newspapers, warning that it is impossible to “separate sheikh and state” and calling for further investigations to be launched before the deal “turns into a disaster for the government”. Julia Lopez,...
National security concerns focus on arm of Vodafone that provides sensitive tech to government departments and agencies. Vodafone should be forced to spin off its most sensitive activities in order to quash national security concerns raised by a United Arab Emirates-backed telecoms group swooping on its shares, government officials have told the Guardian. The deputy...
Lucy Frazer said she is concerned about the potential influence of Abu Dhabi over The Telegraph. Culture Secretary Lucy Frazer has said she is “minded to” open a second investigation into the proposed sale of Telegraph Media Group to Abu Dhabi-backed Redbird IMI. The move was prompted by Redbird IMI making changes to the corporate structure of the potential acquiring entities...
Abu Dhabi-backed Redbird IMI has submitted a new proposal relating to its planned takeover of the Telegraph newspaper, likely prompting a fresh government probe on public interest grounds, British media minister Lucy Frazer said on Wednesday. The regulators had been due to report back to Frazer by the end of Friday on the first probe....
Abu Dhabi-backed RedBird IMI faces further regulatory scrutiny of its £600mn planned takeover of the Telegraph Media Group following UK government concerns about a proposal to overhaul its corporate structure for the business. RedBird IMI wants to create a holding company via a new English limited partnership to acquire the newspaper group, as part of...