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The billionaire who has bankrolled DAZN, the sports-streaming service, is being courted to instrumentality a involvement successful The Daily Telegraph alongside the newspaper's caller American majority-owners.
Sky News has learnt that Sir Len Blavatnik, whose holding institution Access Entertainment owns assets successful Britain, including the Theatre Royal Haymarket, has been approached by RedBird Capital Partners astir becoming a number capitalist successful the Telegraph titles.
Two sources adjacent to the concern said connected Thursday that Sir Len was being sounded retired astir a deal, though they cautioned that nary statement had been struck and it remained unclear whether 1 would be.
Sir Len, who was knighted by the precocious Queen Elizabeth II for services to philanthropy successful 2017, is simply a prolific capitalist successful the arts, media and amusement industries.
Access Entertainment is tally by Danny Cohen, the erstwhile BBC manager of television.
Announcing its statement to get Telegraph Media Group past period for an endeavor valuation of £500m, RedBird Capital said it was "in discussions with prime UK-based number investors with people media expertise and beardown committedness to upholding the editorial values of the Telegraph".
This was principally a notation to Lord Rothermere, the Daily Mail proprietor, who remains successful talks to wage much than £30m for a involvement successful the Mail's rival right-leaning paper group.
Goldman Sachs is advising DMGT connected the investment, with a woody the taxable of ongoing discussions, according to insiders.
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The Abu Dhabi state-backed conveyance IMI is inactive expected to get the maximum 15% involvement successful the Telegraph permitted nether projected caller media ownership rules.
The government's determination to acceptable the ownership threshold astatine 15% follows an intensive lobbying run by paper manufacture executives acrophobic that a imperishable outright prohibition could chopped disconnected a captious root of backing to an already-embattled industry.
However, the woody faces continued absorption from parliamentarians, with The Guardian reporting connected Thursday that a cross-party radical had written to Lisa Nandy, the civilization secretary, informing of "potential Chinese authorities influence" due to the fact that of links betwixt RedBird Capital seat John Thornton and China's sovereign wealthiness fund.
This proposition has been dismissed by RedBird Capital insiders.
Ukraine-born Sir Len's portfolio of investments includes DAZN, which is present besides backed by a Saudi sports group, mobile games workplace Tripledot and Scenario Two, a theatre accumulation company.
Dovid Efune, the proprietor of The New York Sun, is meantime continuing to assemble a rival bid for the Telegraph, having secured backing from Jeremy Hosking, the salient City investor.
His prospects, however, look to person diminished aft the erstwhile chancellor, Nadhim Zahawi, was reported to person withdrawn from his alleged 'British bid'.
The Telegraph titles' genitor institution was forced into insolvency proceedings 2 years agone by Lloyds Banking Group, which ran retired of patience with the Barclay family, their long-standing owner.
RedBird IMI, a associated task betwixt the 2 firms, paid £600m respective months aboriginal to get a telephone enactment that was intended to person into ownership of the Telegraph newspapers and The Spectator magazine.
That nonsubjective was thwarted by a alteration successful media ownership laws, which banned immoderate signifier of overseas authorities ownership.
Some parliamentarians are continuing to reason that a 15% threshold would beryllium excessively high, and that the projected rules are ambiguous due to the fact that they perchance let for much than 1 authorities capitalist to aggregate their holdings successful British newspapers.
The Spectator was sold past twelvemonth for £100m to Sir Paul Marshall, the hedge money billionaire, who has installed Lord Gove, the erstwhile furniture minister, arsenic its editor.
RedBird Capital has been contacted for comment, portion a telephone to Access Industries' London bureau went unanswered connected Thursday lunchtime.
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