In the UK, one of the major national daily newspapers is on sale. THE Daily Telegraph, 700,000 subscribers, would be on the verge of being bought by the investment fund RedBird IMI, majority owned by the vice-president of the United Arab Emirates. The government has just published a bill to prevent this takeover.
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With our correspondent in London, Émeline Vin
At United Kingdom, representatives of state and foreign governments will no longer have the right to own direct shares in British media groups. With this bill, the government explains that it wants to protect the freedom of press and its independence from any foreign influence.
Once the text is validated by Parliament, it will make it impossible to buy back the Daily Telegraph by an investment fund, RedBirdIMI, controlled by the vice-president of the United Arab Emirates.
A fear of seeing the political debate influenced
This sale, announced since November 2023, greatly worries the executive – especially since the daily is a historic supporter of the Conservative Party in power, in an ultra-politicized media landscape. The fear is that shareholders will use the newspaper to try to influence the political debate. An investigation has already been opened by the media regulator, which considers that the sale “ could contravene the public interest “.
The text could come into force in the coming weeks. RedBird IMI has already indicated that it is considering selling the shares it already owns, in the face of the hostility it encounters.
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