Telegraph sale in turmoil after lead bidder linked to China’s politburo | Telegraph Media Group

The sale of Telegraph Media Group has been thrown into fresh turmoil after the company’s own newspaper linked its presumed new owner to the suspected ringleader of the Westminster Chinese spy ring.

Wednesday’s edition of the Daily Telegraph He published a photo dated 2024 financier John Thornton’s handshake with Cai Qi, a senior member of the Chinese Communist Party’s ruling politburo, raises questions about whether the British title is being pursued as a tool for China to exert foreign influence.

Thornton is chairman of private equity firm RedBird Capital Partners, which is bidding for control of the media group. Cai was identified as a top lieutenant of Chinese President Xi Jinping and emerged as the suspect who received British political intelligence that formed part of the collapsed Chinese espionage investigation.

Pressing the government to launch a new investigation into the latest takeover of the Telegraph, Iain Duncan Smith, MP and former leader of the Conservative party, wrote on social media platform

“The risk of undue Chinese influence here is huge, and that is not just my opinion; it is also supported by official legal opinion, given Thornton’s deep and well-documented connections to senior figures in the Chinese Communist Party.”

The story is the latest in a series of intrigues in the Telegraph’s long-running takeover saga.

RedBird Capital, which has various investments including shares in the parent company of Liverpool football club, is in the process of acquiring Telegraph Media Group from affiliated entity RedBird IMI.

RedBird IMI was forced to put the books on sale in spring 2024 after the then Conservative government passed a law preventing foreign governments or affiliates from owning newspaper assets in the UK.

A quarter of RedBird IMI’s funding came from RedBird Capital, while the remainder came from International Media Investments (IMI), controlled by Abu Dhabi Sheikh Mansour bin Zayed Al Nahyan, vice-president of the United Arab Emirates and owner of Manchester City.

This year the Labor government eased the ban on foreign governments owning shares in UK newspapers by allowing newspapers to hold up to 15% shares; This paved the way for the current RedBird Capital offer, which would see IMI retain a 15% Telegraph stake.

However, the agreement continued to be viewed with skepticism.

In the House of Lords this month Liberal Democrat Lord Fox warned: “My Lord, as we know, a fund of Abu Dhabi money and possibly Chinese money is buying up a relatively small player, small in global terms, but the Telegraph is significant in the UK.

“The best explanation I can find for their purpose is that they are buying influence.”

Other media sources have suggested that the Telegraph deal should be seen as a harbinger of the potential sale of more media products in the UK in the coming years, and how well the government can stand in the way of wealthy foreign states that might keep an eye on these valuable assets.

One source suggested there would be more traditional buyers for the Telegraph if RedBirdIMI did not set the asking price at £500 million.

The Telegraph’s future has been uncertain since the Barclay family lost control of the media group due to unpaid debts in 2023, with Redbird IMI taking control of the titles that year. The paper’s sister magazine, The Spectator, was sold to hedge fund tycoon and GB News backer Sir Paul Marshall for £100 million last year. Marshall was also vying to buy Telegraph books.

A spokesman for the Department for Culture, Media and Sport did not comment, saying it was a “quasi-judicial process”.

RedBird Capital did not respond to efforts to contact it for comment.