Culture Minister Extends Evidence Deadline In Daily Telegraph Sale Probe

Frazer has extended the deadline for evidence in Daily Telegraph investigation. (AP Photo/Kin Cheung)

Culture Secretary Lucy Frazer extended the Monday deadline for the submission of evidence regarding the acquisition of the Daily Telegraph by one week.

The original cut-off date was set for March 25 but was extended to April 2 following a request from one of the involved parties involved. The extension gives stakeholders more time to gather and deliver necessary documents as the government scrutinises the deal’s implications for media plurality and national security.

The government made public a letter issued to Penultimate Investment Holdings, the company which held the Telegraph Media Group and The Spectator on behalf of the Barclay family, informing it of the decision.

The government is specifically investigating the bid by RedBird IMI, a joint venture between Gerry Cardinale’s RedBird Capital and International Media Investments (IMI) of Abu Dhabi, that is led by former CNN chief Jeff Zucker and funded primarily by Sheikh Mansour bin Zayed Al Nahyan, UAE’s vice-president.

Frazer halted the deal’s progress in December when she issued a Public Interest Intervention Notice (PIIN), prompting investigations by Ofcom and the Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) into the deal’s implications for press freedom.

Since the PIIN commenced the Conservative government announced plans to implement a ban on foreign state-associated majority ownership of UK media assets through a legislative amendment to the Digital Markets Bill.

Despite Zucker’s vow to protect the newspaper’s “editorial independence” should he succeed in the purchase, asserting IMI was a passive investor, he has failed to appease concerned journalists and a group of Tory politicians who have since pushed for changes to the law.