Britain’s communications regulator Ofcom has opened a public interest test on a potential acquisition of right-leaning newspaper publisher Telegraph Media Group by Abu Dhabi-backed investment fund RedBird IMI.
The bid has drawn scrutiny from the Conservative MPs, who have traditionally garnered support from The Telegraph, of the involvement of an Abu Dhabi-backed company on grounds of possible foreign influence in the broadsheet.
However, RedBird boss Jeff Zucker has accused rival bidders for the Telegraph of engaging in a smear campaign.
“There’s a reason that people are slinging mud and throwing darts — (it’s) because they want to own these assets… and they have their own media assets to try to hurt us,” he previously remarked.
In an invitation to comment, Ofcom asked the public to consider potential conflicts of interest emerging from the acquisition.
It read: “Statutory guidance on this ground notes that the impact of a relevant merger situation on accurate presentation of the news is likely to be assessed by reference to evidence of past behaviour by the enterprises in question, or by the persons with control of such enterprises, in relation to that or other enterprises, including but not limited to newspapers.
“The statutory guidance on this ground describes how free expression of opinion concerns ‘the extent to which the transaction would affect the freedom of editors to operate without interference from the proprietor’”.
The Telegraph Media Group was taken over by Lloyds Banking Group earlier this year after the Barclay family, which had owned it for two decades, failed to repay debts exceeding £1.1 billion.
Other parties to have expressed an interest in TMG include GB News shareholder and hedge fund billionaire Paul Marshall, Daily Mail proprietor Lord Rothermere and National World, a London-listed local newspaper publisher.
Ofcom is seeking public input until December 13 before completing its investigation on January 26, 2024.