By Alex Wickham and Jamie NimmoRupert Murdoch’s News Corp. and the owner of the Daily Mail have held talks about a potential joint takeover of the Telegraph — one of the UK’s most famous newspapers — alongside the UAE-backed investment fund RedBird IMI, people familiar with the matter said. Representatives from the Daily Mail and General Trust — owner of the Daily Mail newspaper controlled by Jonathan Harmsworth — and News Corp.’s News UK unit have held back-channel conversations on how to form such a joint structure, they said. DMGT and News UK declined to comment, as did RedBird IMI, other than to say it isn’t involved in the discussions. Sheikh Mansour, the deputy prime minister of the UAE, owns the majority of Redbird IMI, sparking concerns from ministers in Prime Minister Rishi Sunak’s cabinet about foreign state ownership, Bloomberg previously reported. DMGT and News UK have previously proposed a joint venture to combine their printing operations.

Source: Daily Mail March 12, 2024 14:41 UTC