Paul Marshall Emerges as Frontrunner in Race to Buy Spectator Magazine


Charlotte Hughes-Morgan, Jamie Nimmo and Nishant Kumar
Thu, Aug 1, 2024

(Bloomberg) -- Paul Marshall has emerged as the frontrunner in a race to acquire the Spectator, which is back on the block after political furor scuppered a deal that would’ve handed control to a UAE-backed investor group.

The hedge fund manager could strike a deal for the politically influential title this month, according to people familiar with the matter who asked not to be identified discussing private talks. That would hive off the magazine from the ongoing bidding process for the Telegraph newspapers, which exert similar sway in Westminster.

Marshall has also been eyeing the Telegraph newspapers but doubts are growing about whether he will now join that auction, according to Sky News, which reported on his interest in the Spectator earlier. Citadel’s Ken Griffin — who previously discussed supporting a potential Marshall bid for the media group — wouldn’t be involved in any offer for the magazine, said one of the people familiar.

RedBird IMI, the seller, is seeking to recoup the £600 million ($775 million) it effectively paid for the Telegraph and the Spectator magazine. It is a joint venture between US private equity firm RedBird and International Media Investments, a vehicle controlled by UAE Deputy Prime Minister Sheikh Mansour bin Zayed Al Nahyan, who also owns Manchester City football club.

The investor group is walking away from its proposed takeover of the media group after Tory politicians opposed the deal, fearing there was a threat of a foreign state influencing the British newspaper. Keir Starmer, who led his Labour Party to victory earlier this month and became Prime Minister, had also previously expressed concern about foreign state ownership of British news outlets.

The titles have drawn interest from a wide range of potential buyers, including some of the biggest figures in British media such as Rupert Murdoch’s News Corp., the publisher of the UK’s Daily Mail tabloid and David Montgomery’s National World Plc. Advertising tycoon Maurice Saatchi, who is a member of the House of Lords, has also reportedly expressed an interest.

RedBird IMI’s decision to pull the plug has reignited a media battle for the control of both the newspaper and the Spectator magazine — the two publications that are famously intertwined with the upper echelons of Great Britain’s Conservative Party.

The Spectator is the world’s oldest weekly magazine still in print while the Daily Telegraph dates back to 1855 and claims the scoop for the outbreak of World War II.

--With assistance from Pamela Barbaglia.