LONDON: Abu Dhabi-backed investment fund RedBird IMI said Monday it is set to take control of The Daily and Sunday Telegraph sister newspapers and The Spectator magazine in Britain.
RedBird IMI — a joint venture between US firm RedBird Capital and Abu Dhabi’s International Media Investments — said it had struck a deal for a “package of loans” totalling £600 million ($750 million) to take control of the Telegraph Media Group.
The parent company of the right-leaning titles has been controlled by the Barclay family for nearly two decades but was put up for sale earlier this year over unpaid debts.
RedBird IMI said it will fully pay off the debts owed to Lloyds Banking Group, allowing the media group to be taken out of receivership.
The joint venture added it also intends to exercise an option to convert a further “similar” sized loan — secured against the Telegraph and Spectator titles — into equity.
With regulatory approval, that would give it eventual ownership of the Telegraph Media Group.
Redbird Capital, run by former CNN president and noted media executive Jeff Zucker, would run the publications “alone” with IMI being “a passive investor only,” according to the joint venture.
The assurances follow a group of lawmakers from the ruling Conservative party urging the government to use the UK’s national security laws to investigate Abu Dhabi’s role in the takeover, the Financial Times reported Sunday.
The five Tory MPs have written to deputy prime minister Oliver Dowden, business secretary Kemi Badenoch and culture secretary Lucy Frazer querying the wisdom of allowing overseas sovereign wealth funds to buy national newspapers, it said.
Announcing the financial deals Monday, a spokesman for RedBird IMI said in a statement that it will “provide a loan to the value of £600 million, secured against the Telegraph and Spectator.”
“Any transfer of ownership will of course be subject to regulatory review and we will continue to co-operate fully with the government and the regulator,” he said.
“Following transfer of ownership, RedBird Capital alone will take over management and operational responsibility for the titles under the leadership of RedBird IMI chief executive Jeff Zucker.”
The spokesman added the joint venture was “entirely committed to maintaining the existing editorial team of the Telegraph and Spectator publications” to protect their “reputation and credibility.”
Telegraph Media Group was bought by twin brothers Frederick and David Barclay in 2004 for £665 million.
But lender Bank of Scotland announced in June that it had appointed a receiver for the Bermuda-based holding company of the group, due to “debts being in default and with no sign they would be repaid.”
It said then that the appointment of financial advisory firm AlixPartners was a “last resort” and followed discussions to “find a consensual solution and repayment” of the borrowing that reportedly amounted to £1 billion ($1.2 billion).
Abu Dhabi-backed fund set to seize UK’s Telegraph Media Group
https://arab.news/gbn9p
Abu Dhabi-backed fund set to seize UK’s Telegraph Media Group
- Parent company of right-leaning titles has been controlled by Barclay family for nearly two decades
KFC Arabia and TBWA\RAAD’s Saudi campaign wins big at TikTok Ad Awards 2025
DUBAI: TikTok announced the winners of the TikTok Ad Awards 2025 at a ceremony held at the King Abdullah Financial District Conference Center in Riyadh on Wednesday, celebrating advertising campaigns on the platform from across the Middle East.
The top honor, G.O.A.T. (“Greatest of All Time”), which celebrates the best overall campaign combining creativity, media performance and proven effectiveness, went to the Saudi campaign “Om Bdr — 12th Ingredient,” developed by TBWA\RAAD for KFC Arabia.
The campaign was born out of Saudi user behavior on TikTok, which saw users dusting a seasoning created by a local cook named Om Bdr onto their KFC chicken. Picking up on this trend, KFC partnered with Om Bdr, adding her seasoning as its unofficial 12th spice.
Instead of focusing on trends or virality, the brand listened to its audience and “made the creator a partner,” said Ahmed Arafa, chief marketing officer at KFC Arabia.
He added: “This campaign was about respecting where the idea came from, crediting the community that discovered it, and turning cultural momentum into something real. Om Bdr’s seasoning belonged on our menu because our customers put it there first.”
The campaign emphasized authenticity, moving away from high-production studio shoots to filming inside actual KFC outlets, with minimal setup and featuring Om Bdr as herself.
As a result, KFC Arabia recorded its highest sales mix to date, while Om Bdr sold out of her own seasoning following the campaign.
“Om Bdr — 12th Ingredient” also won Gold in the Goal Digger category, which celebrates work that delivers measurable results, and Silver in the Community Core category, which highlights campaigns driven by creator and community collaborations.
The two firms also collaborated on another campaign, “Nuggets — Nugg it. Dip it. Crunch it.”, which ran across Saudi Arabia, the UAE and Qatar, and won Bronze in the Sound On category.
The campaign centered on a looping audio track paired with videos focusing on picking, dipping and eating a nugget.
TikTok said the campaign promoted creator participation, with users adapting and reworking the audio in ways that felt native to the platform.
Saudi-based creative agency Habbar’s campaign, “14 Feb: Judgement Day!”, for online gift delivery service Floward, won Silver in the Goal Digger category.
The campaign took a humor-led approach to reflect the pressure and last-minute decision-making often associated with Valentine’s Day gifting, using creator collaborations and video formats designed to encourage sharing and commenting.
Other notable campaigns included “My Like First” by Lux, which ran in Saudi Arabia and the UAE and won Gold in the Community Core category, as well as “How I Crunch It” by Bugles, created by MRM and UM, which won Bronze in the Sound On category.
“The Ad Awards winners of this year show what’s possible when brands embrace TikTok not just as a media platform, but as a creative canvas,” said Shadi Kandil, general manager of global business solutions for the Middle East, Turkiye, Africa, Central and South Asia at TikTok.
