Zahawi in talks to help Efune clinch £550m Telegraph takeover
The former Conservative chancellor Nadhim Zahawi is in talks to smooth the path to a takeover of The Daily Telegraph being led by the New York-based media investor Dovid Efune.
Sky News has learnt that Mr Zahawi has been working for several weeks with LionTree, Mr Efune’s investment banking adviser, on the deal, which is expected to be worth in the region of £550m.
City sources said on Monday that Mr Efune, proprietor of the New York Sun, was exploring securing a portion of funding for the takeover from Sir Mohamed Mansour, the former Tory treasurer.
In September, Sky News revealed that Sir Mohamed had been approached to provide as much as £150m to a standalone bid for the Telegraph titles that was being spearheaded by Mr Zahawi.
Mr Efune subsequently secured a period of exclusivity to finalise a deal before the end of November, and is now lining up financial backers to help clinch the deal, aided by the former Tory chancellor.
If completed, the transaction will crystallise an unlikely profit for RedBird IMI, the Abu Dhabi-backed vehicle which paid £600m to acquire a call option that was intended to convert into ownership of the Telegraph newspapers and The Spectator magazine.
One source said that depending on the final structuring of the deal, it could be worth as much as £575m
The Spectator was recently sold for £100m to Sir Paul Marshall, the hedge fund billionaire, who has installed Michael Gove, the former cabinet minister, as its editor.
Insiders said that Mr Zahawi was likely to be handed an ongoing role at the Telegraph if the bid from Mr Efune was successful.
The former chancellor, education secretary and vaccines minister has been involved in the Telegraph process in various guises, initially helping broker a deal with RedBird IMI before assembling his own offer.
He has close connections to many of the Gulf-based figures involved in the process, including Sultan Ahmed al-Jaber, chairman of the bidding vehicle.
Mr Zahawi has also since been named chairman of Very Group, the online retailer owned by the Barclay family which controlled the Telegraph for two decades, and which is now part-funded by IMI.
The UAE-based IMI, which is controlled by the UAE’s deputy prime minister and ultimate owner of Manchester City Football Club, Sheikh Mansour bin Zayed Al Nahyan, extended a further £600m to the Barclays to pay off a loan owed to Lloyds Banking Group, with the balance secured against other family assets.
Spokesmen for Mr Efune, Sir Mohamed and RedBird IMI all declined to comment on Monday, while Mr Zahawi could not be reached for comment.
The former minister has said little publicly about his interest in a role at the Telegraph, although he did tell Sky News presenter Sophy Ridge in September that it “would be an incredible honour for me, a real privilege if I were ever to… chair the Telegraph [or] be involved with [it]”.
Sir Mohamed, who has donated millions of pounds to the Tories, was knighted earlier this year – a move which was lambasted by critics of the honours system.
His family office, Man Capital, is the second-biggest shareholder in the coffee shop chain Caffe Nero, while he owns San Diego FC, a new Major League Soccer franchise which will make its debut next year.
The London-based billionaire was the Tories’ senior treasurer from late 2022 until this year’s general election.
Mr Efune’s bid has raised the extraordinary possibility of a return to the British newspaper group for Conrad Black, its former proprietor, Sky News reported earlier in the autumn.
Lord Black, who ceased to be a member of the House of Lords earlier this year on the grounds of his non-attendance, writes regular opinion pieces for the digital title and was a founding director of its publisher.
For decades, Lord Black was a colossal figure in the newspaper industry both in Britain and beyond, overseeing titles at Hollinger International which included the Telegraph, The Jerusalem Post and the Chicago Sun-Times.
He acquired an initial stake in the Telegraph group in 1985, before gaining full control later that year.
After being convicted in 2007 of fraud and obstruction of justice, he spent three-and-a-half years in prison, and in 2019 was pardoned by President Trump.
Other bidders for the Telegraph included National World, the London-listed vehicle headed by former Mirror newspapers chief David Montgomery, and Lord Saatchi, the former advertising mogul, who offered £350m.
Lord Rothermere, the Daily Mail proprietor, pulled out of the bidding earlier in the summer amid concerns that he would be blocked on competition grounds.
The Telegraph auction is being run by Raine Group and Robey Warshaw, the advisers to the Abu Dhabi-backed entity which was thwarted in its efforts to buy the media titles by a change in ownership law.
The cost of living crisis has “boosted” the secondhand industry, Sky News has been told, as more than £2bn is spent on pre-loved gifts this Christmas.
Adam Jay, CEO of Vinted Marketplace, said the “trend” in buying pre-loved was “happening anyway” but described rising costs elsewhere as a possible “accelerator”.
“I’m sure the cost of living crisis has been a boost,” he told Sky News, adding that it had supported “the secondhand industry and trading of secondhand”.
“But I do think this trend was happening anyway because of people’s consciousness around overconsumption, around sustainable buying and sustainable consumption.
“I think all of these have I think these are deep trends and I think they’re trends that are here to stay. I really think secondhand can become the first choice ultimately,” he said.
Adam Jay from Vinted told Sky News consumers want to be more sustainable
Vinted, an online marketplace for buying and selling pre-owned items, made its first annual net profit last year of €18m (£15m).
The company’s revenue also rose by 61% year on year amid a rise in demand for secondhand goods.
The Vinted boss’s comments come as more than £2bn is expected to have been spent buying pre-loved gifts this Christmas.
A report by Vinted and Retail Economics found that secondhand shopping will account for just over 10% of all gift spending.
More than four in five people also said they might spend some of their budget on pre-loved gifts this year.
Vicky Saynor, from Hertfordshire, has bought all of her Christmas gifts secondhand, with a total budget of £150.
Vicky Saynor, from Hertfordshire, bought all her Christmas gifts secondhand
“This year I said, that’s it – it’s only secondhand or they’re not getting anything,” she said.
She has spent £20 on each of her children and believes she will have saved possibly over £1,000.
“We have so much stuff in this world we just don’t need to keep buying more of it. One person’s rubbish is another person gold,” she continued, “I love old things – they have a life, they have a history.
“And secondhand clothing – why not? When I was young I would reuse or pass on and that all changed in the 90s and 00s when it really focused on consumerism. But we have to change our ways – we have to change our habits.”
Vicky thinks she has possibly saved over £1,000 on presents
According to the Vinted report, shoppers are also selling their own belongings to fund Christmas gifts, with 43% selling online.
More are planning to increase how much they buy secondhand too with over a third (35%) expected to buy more in the next five years.
In his interview with Sky News, Vinted’s Adam Jay has also highlighted the “confusion” around new reporting rules on tax in the new year.
Regulations from HM Revenue and Customs (HMRC) mean that if someone sells above a certain threshold Vinted must ask the seller for their national insurance number and share it with HMRC.
Mr Jay explained, however, that it is “a relatively small proportion of the overall sellers” on the platform and most will “already know” if they have to provide details.
“Vinted is obligated to collect the national insurance number for any seller who sold more than 30 items or more than £1,700 worth of product in the previous 12 months,” he said.
“But here’s the really important thing,” he added, “the obligation to give your national insurance number does not mean there is any obligation to actually pay tax… there is no tax to pay on the private sale of secondhand items.”
He also described the new rules as “a little challenging” for Vinted, as many members already sell at least 30 items.
“Hopefully they’ll [HMRC] rethink whether those thresholds are set in exactly the right way to make sure that ultimately the right people are paying the tax.”
While “supportive” of HMRC decision to change regulations, Mr Jay added: “I wish the thresholds had been set a bit differently. They’re actually set consistently across all OECD countries.
“I would hope even across all of Vinted markets in which we operate, that the tax authorities will consider changing those thresholds or making them more appropriate for business models like Vinted.”
Business
Honda and Nissan announce plans to merge after the Japanese car giants struggle to match rivals in electric vehicles
Japanese car giants, Honda and Nissan, have announced plans to merge.
That would make them the third largest car maker by sales, behind Toyota Motor Corp and Volkswagen AG.
The two companies said they had signed a memorandum of understanding, which would also include the smaller Nissan Alliance member, Mitsubishi Motors, in the talks on integration.
Japan’s car makers have struggled to match their big rivals in electric vehicles (EVs) and are trying to cut costs.
If the merger is finalised it could result in a company worth more than 50 billion dollars (£39.77bn) based on the market capitalisation of all three car makers.
Honda president Toshihiro Mibe speaks during a joint news conference with Nissan and Mitsubishi. Pic: AP
Honda would initially lead the new management, which would retain the principles and brands of each company, Honda’s president, Toshihiro Mibe, said.
The aim is for the deal to be completed by August 2026, he added, but said there was a chance it would not go forward.
Mr Mibe said there are “points that need to be studied and discussed” about the merger. “Frankly speaking, the possibility of this not being implemented is not zero.”
Read more:
UK car production falls for ninth month in a row
Electric vehicles make up one in four new cars sold
Despite the prospective deal making the new company a giant in the industry, it would still lag behind Toyota as the leading Japanese automaker.
Toyota rolled out 11.5 million vehicles in 2023, with Honda, Nissan and Mitsubishi Motors combining for around eight million.
It comes after the three companies announced in August that they would share components for EVs like batteries and jointly research software for autonomous driving.
Nissan has struggled under the weight of a scandal that began with the arrest of its former chairman Carlos Ghosn in late 2018 on charges of fraud and misuse of company assets – allegations that he denies. He eventually was released on bail and fled to Lebanon.
He said the planned merger was a “desperate move”.
Meanwhile, in Europe, car companies have been cutting jobs and shutting factories as they face pressure from growing exports from China, Sky News’ economics and data editor Ed Conway reported this month.
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