Jeff Zucker’s Telegraph Bid At Risk As Government Plans Ban On Foreign State Ownership In Media

Jeff Zucker insists that the newspaper will retain “editorial independence” after the purchase. (Photo by: NDZ/STAR MAX/IPx)

Conservatives are planning to ban foreign state majority ownership of British newspapers in a move that may thwart the attempted purchase of The Telegraph and The Spectator by former CNN chief Jeff Zucker, who is backed by a firm linked to the ruling family of the United Arab Emirates (UAE).

This legislative amendment to the Digital Markets Bill, to be announced Wednesday afternoon by Culture Minister Lord Parkinson in the House of Lords, aims to fortify press freedom and the sovereign operation of the UK’s news outlets.

Although the exact wording of the amendment remains under wraps, the change is being pushed by a united rebellion of Tory politicians in direct resistance to Zucker’s bid to buy the two mainstream print publications.

The ongoing purchase was submitted by submitted by RedBird IMI, a joint venture between Gerry Cardinale’s RedBird Capital and International Media Investments (IMI) of Abu Dhabi, that is run by Zucker and funded primarily by Sheikh Mansour bin Zayed Al Nahyan, UAE’s vice-president.

Despite its stringent nature, the law reportedly leaves room for deals where foreign state involvement does not lead to control or significant influence, potentially allowing RedBird IMI to present a revised bid with less UAE stake.

Since its announcement, journalists and politicians have raised concerns about the RedBird IMI deal’s implications on press freedom.

Despite Zucker’s vow to protect “editorial independence” should he succeed in his buy over, asserting IMI was a passive investor, Sunak’s Culture Secretary Lucy 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.