Abu Dhabi-backed Redbird IMI set to sell The Spectator

Reuters Connect/Vernon Yuen

• £90m to £120m valuation
• Paul Marshall in pole position
• Telegraph sale to take longer

Redbird IMI, a US investment group backed by Abu Dhabi’s International Media Investments, is understood to be selling The Spectator magazine to hedge fund boss Paul Marshall.

It is understood a deal with Marshall, through his Queen Street Ventures fund, would value the magazine in the region of £90 million ($114 million) to £120 million ($153 million) and could be concluded by the end of this month.

RedBird IMI declined to comment when contacted by AGBI.

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RedBird IMI put The Spectator up for sale alongside The Daily Telegraph and Sunday Telegraph newspaper.

There remains a possibility Marshall will also buy the two newspaper titles, although there is strong competition and a deal is likely to take longer to complete.

Marshall is chief investment officer of global hedge fund Marshall Wace, which has assets under management of $67 billion.

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Other interested parties to have declared an interest include Belgian media group Mediahuis, News UK, owned by Rupert Murdoch, and UK-listed National World.

Conservative peer Lord Maurice Saatchi and a consortium put together by Nadhim Zahawi, the former chancellor of the UK, are also thought to hold an interest. However, there are believed to be even more who have not gone public.

RedBird IMI backed out of plans to acquire the Telegraph Media Group in May, after the UK government blocked the deal, passing legislation that prevented foreign governments from owning British newspapers and news magazines.

Last year the company repaid the debts held by The Telegraph’s owners, the Barclay family, including a £600 million loan, which effectively gave it control of the Telegraph newspaper titles and The Spectator.