Former Tory chancellor Nadhim Zahawi planning ‘£600m Telegraph takeover bid’

Former Tory chancellor Nadhim Zahawi is plotting a £600m bid to take over The Daily Telegraph, according to reports.

Mr Zahawi, who stepped down from his Stratford-on-Avon seat earlier this year, has approached several billionaire backers to help finance the deal.

The former cabinet minister is said to believe the Telegraph has the potential to expand into the US market.

He has not yet submitted a formal offer but Sky News reported he is “confident” in the prospect of securing the financing and submitting a competitive bid.

While the identities of some of Mr Zahawi’s prospective backers is unclear, the broadcaster was told by a City source that he had approached the Reuben family, who have a vast property portfolio and own a stake in Newcastle United Football Club.

The takeover of the newspaper, its Sunday title and The Spectator magazine, has been up in the air after the Daily Mail publisher ruled out a bid.

Last year, previous Telegraph owners the Barclay family were forced to put the media group up for sale in order to repay debts to lenders at Lloyds Bank.

Mr Zahawi played a pivotal role in the Telegraph Media Group sale to investment fund RedBird IMI.

He is now said to be conducting talks directly with International Media Investments (IMI), a vehicle which holds the majority of RedBird IMI.

RedBird IMI paid roughly £600m to purchase the business and agreed to take on £600m of related debt in December.

However just months later in April, the Abu Dhabi-backed fund said it would sell the Telegraph citing government intervention.

The month before, the Conservative government said it would stop foreign governments from owning British newspapers.

Other potential suitors linked with a deal include Yorkshire Post publisher National World and former advertising boss Lord Saatchi.

GB News investor Paul Marshall is among those to have reportedly shown an interest in buying the titles.