GB News owner buys Spectator magazine for £100m

The Spectator mag has been sold for £100m to Sir Paul Marshall, the hedge money tycoon and a large capitalist successful GB News.

The merchantability of the right-leaning magazine, which counts erstwhile Conservative Prime Minister Boris Johnson among its erstwhile editors, comes aft astir 20 bidders expressed involvement successful an auction.

The Spectator went backmost connected merchantability earlier this twelvemonth aft an Abu Dhabi-backed bid for the mag arsenic good arsenic the Daily Telegraph and the Sunday Telegraph collapsed.

That woody would person transferred their ownership to the Gulf-backed Redbird IMI consortium, but the authorities intervened successful January and authorities banning overseas states from owning UK newspapers followed.

The Telegraph newspapers stay for sale, and Sir Paul is besides successful the moving to bargain those arsenic helium continues his bid to physique an empire of right-wing media outlets. Others thought to beryllium among the bidders see Rupert Murdoch’s News UK and former chancellor Nadhim Zahawi.

After the woody was announced, Spectator president Andrew Neil said helium would resign with contiguous effect, having antecedently stated that hedge funds should not beryllium allowed to ain quality publications due to the fact that of the hazard of struggle of interest.

"I made it wide galore months agone that I would measurement down erstwhile a caller proprietor took over. That clip has present come," he posted connected X, formerly Twitter.

The Spectator was established successful 1828, making it 1 of the oldest authorities and existent affairs magazines successful the world.

Sir Paul, who is buying the mag done his Old Queen Street (OQS) media group, said: “As a semipermanent Spectator reader, I americium delighted it is joining the OQS stable.

"The program is for OQS to marque bully erstwhile underinvestment successful 1 of the world’s large titles."

Current Spectator exertion Fraser Nelson told the BBC's World astatine One programme helium felt "pretty confident" astir the caller owner.

"What you privation successful a proprietor is idiosyncratic who is consenting to invest, who is consenting to person the assurance successful what the journalists are doing, and besides is consenting to support editorial independence. And there’s not the slightest proposition that Paul Marshall isn’t consenting to bash that," helium said.

"The thought that he’s going to crook it into thing different than the journalistic endeavor which it is is conscionable for the birds."

The Spectator and the Telegraph papers were enactment up for merchantability past twelvemonth erstwhile they were seized by Lloyds Banking Group from long-time owners the Barclay family, who had failed to wage backmost a indebtedness of much than £1bn.

They were sold to RedBird IMI successful a woody which valued the publications astatine astir £600m, earlier the authorities intervened and passed legislation, prompting RedBird to halt the takeover and enactment them backmost up for sale.

As a play quality publication, the Spectator is not defined arsenic a "newspaper" nether the Enterprise Act and truthful does not autumn wrong scope of the civilization secretary’s powers to analyse media mergers successful the nationalist interest.

"It is indispensable that the availability of a wide scope of close and high-quality quality and perspectives tin beryllium protected, and that the authorities we person successful spot is equipped to support up with changes and improvement successful our media landscape," a spokesperson for the Department for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport said.

"The civilization caput is present considering recommendations antecedently enactment guardant by the autarkic regulator Ofcom connected the relation of the existent regime."