UK to ban foreign state ownership of British newspapers
- UK government may upend a planned takeover by a UAE-led consortium of the Telegraph Media Group
- The Conservative Party has long enjoyed a close ideological relationship with right-leaning Telegraph titles
The UK announced that it plans to bar overseas governments from owning British newspapers, a move that could scupper the contentious Abu Dhabi-led takeover of the Telegraph Media Group.
Stephen Parkinson, a media minister, announced in the upper-chamber House of Lords on Wednesday that the Conservative government would amend proposed legislation so that it “prevents foreign state ownership of newspapers”.
A government spokesperson added that the move would “deliver additional protections for a free press, a pillar of our democracy”.
It follows pressure over the proposed takeover of the Daily Telegraph newspaper and Spectator magazine by a joint venture 75 per cent owned by Sheikh Mansour bin Zayed Al Nahyan, vice-president and deputy prime minister of the United Arab Emirates.
RedBird IMI, a joint venture between US firm RedBird Capital and Abu Dhabi’s International Media Investments, struck a £1.2 billion (US$1.5 billion) deal with TMG’s owners, the Barclay family, in November.
