The boss of the US private equity group bidding for the Daily Telegraph has been reported to the UK government for potentially breaching rules protecting the newspaper’s editorial independence, after allegedly threatening to “go to war” with the title’s newsroom.
The Guardian understands that the independent directors of Telegraph Media Group (TMG) have alerted the Department for Culture, Media and Sport (DCMS) about supposed comments made by RedBird Capital’s Gerry Cardinale to the Telegraph’s editor, Chris Evans. The government department is thought to be considering if there has been a breach of the legislation.
The title’s former editor Charles Moore disclosed in his Telegraph column last month that inquiries by the paper’s journalists into RedBird Capital’s bid had prompted Cardinale to “threaten he would go to war with our entire newsroom”.
Moore added there had been “apparent media briefings” that Evans would be removed and replaced as editor – although that was followed up by a column the Telegraph published by Cardinale last week.
In it, the private equity boss said: “We won’t ever compromise the editorial independence of the Telegraph. At RedBird, we are very clear about one fundamental premise: don’t invest in a newspaper if you want to influence it – that will kill the investment thesis and is just bad business.”
Last year the government introduced a statutory instrument compelling parties to “take 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”.
The order added: “At all times, the … 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.”
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 of the alleged Chinese spy ring in Westminster.
The Telegraph’s future has been uncertain since the Barclay family lost its grip on the media group in 2023 in a row about unpaid debts. An organisation connected to Redbird Capital, called Redbird IMI, took control of the newspaper titles later that year.
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. Redbird IMI is in the process of selling TMG to RedBird Capital – which holds various investments, including a stake in the parent company of Liverpool football club.
While a quarter of RedBird IMI’s funding came from RedBird Capital, the remainder was sourced from International Media Investments (IMI), which is controlled by Abu Dhabi’s Sheikh Mansour bin Zayed al-Nahyan, the vice-president of the United Arab Emirates and owner of Manchester City FC.
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The Labour government eased the ban 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.
The DCMS and a spokesperson for TMG’s directors declined to comment on the report to DCMS by the Telegraph’s directors.
A spokesperson for RedBird Capital said: “RedBird 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 – namely, free speech and independent journalism.
“As 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.”