US bidder Dovid Efune set to buy Telegraph for £550m next week

Dovid Efune, the owner of the New York Sun, is reportedly on the verge of buying The Daily Telegraph and its Sunday title for £550m, with signs a deal could be inked as early as next week.

This weekend, Efune was engaged in advanced discussions with Redbird IMI, the current proprietor of the British broadsheet, although no formal agreement has been finalised yet.

Efune is set to enter exclusive negotiations after successfully outbidding competitors, including David Montgomery’s National World, according to the Financial Times.

Said to be backed by investors such as Oaktree Capital and advised by bankers at Liontree, Efune’s bid could herald the return of media tycoon Lord Conrad Black.

Black, who previously helmed The Daily Telegraph for nearly two decades, remains a founding director and contributing editor of The New York Sun.

The move may pave the way for the return of Lord Conrad Black, the media tycoon who owned The Daily Telegraph for nearly two decades, to the British broadsheet.

One insider suggested Black, who is a founding director and contributing editor of The New York Sun, “still loves” The Telegraph and was recently approached by Efune about the potential acquisition.

Some have speculated that Efune might expand The Telegraph into the American market to capture a centre-right audience.

Media analyst Ian Whittaker said: “It is perhaps the last market which presents the greatest opportunity for the Telegraph newspaper assets and where Efune’s presence in the American market will undoubtedly help.

“Not only is the United States obviously the biggest advertising market and potential single source of audience, it also – crucially – lacks a major centre-right [or] right wing national upscale publisher…The Telegraph could easily claim this market,” he explained.

Redbird IMI originally acquired The Telegraph and The Spectator for £600m combined. It recently sold The Spectator magazine to hedge fund magnate Sir Paul Marshall’s Old Queen Street (OQS) Media for £100m, making a £550m deal with Efune profitable.

Earlier this year, the UK government blocked Redbird IMI’s own bid for the newspapers, forcing it to put them back on the auction market.

Nadhim Zahawi, former Chancellor and current chair of the Barclay family-owned Very Group, was also in the running to take control of The Telegraph.

Leading contender hedge fund magnate Sir Paul Marshall did not submit a formal offer for the Telegraph despite being regarded as one of the favourites to assume ownership of the broadsheet.

City AM approached Redbird IMI for comment. Efune could not be reached.