Sir Mohamed Mansour, the former Conservative Party treasurer, has been approached about backing a bid for The Daily Telegraph being spearheaded by Nadhim Zahawi, the erstwhile Tory chancellor.
Sky News has learnt that Sir Mohamed, who holds dual British and Egyptian citizenship, is among a number of wealthy individuals who have been sounded out about helping to fund an offer for the broadsheet newspaper.
Sources said on Friday that Mr Zahawi was optimistic about making a competitive offer for the Telegraph in the coming weeks.
It was unclear whether Sir Mohamed would participate in the bid, although one source said a commitment of approximately £150m had been discussed.
Last month, Sky News revealed that Boris Johnson, the former prime minister, had been courted by Mr Zahawi about an executive role with the Telegraph titles, potentially as the titles’ global editor-in-chief.
Speaking to Sky News presenter Sophy Ridge this week, Mr Zahawi said: “I’ve always said publicly, it would be an incredible honour for me, a real privilege if I were ever to… chair the Telegraph [or] be involved with [it].”
He declined to comment during the interview on the details of his proposed bid.
Nadhim Zahawi. Pic: PA
Among the other billionaires with whom Mr Zahawi has held talks are members of the Reuben family, the property magnates and owners of a stake in Newcastle United Football Club.
The former chancellor is negotiating directly with Gulf-based IMI – which owns the majority of RedBird IMI, the vehicle now overseeing the formal auction process.
Mr Zahawi could not be reached for comment on Friday, while a spokesman for Sir Mohamed declined to comment.
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.
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News of his potential association with Mr Zahawi’s Telegraph bid comes as advisers handling the sale of the newspaper prepare to receive formal offers for it later this month.
A bid spearheaded by Dovid Efune, the owner of The New York Sun, has raised the extraordinary possibility of a return to the British newspaper group for Conrad Black, its former proprietor, Sky News reported on Thursday.
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.
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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.
Earlier this week, The Spectator magazine – which had also been owned by the Barclay family before the titles’ parent companies were forced into insolvency by Lloyds Banking Group more than a year ago – was sold to Sir Paul Marshall for £100m.
Sir Paul’s Old Queen Street Ventures continues to be linked to a bid for the Telegraph titles, which are expected to be sold for between £400m and £500m.
In a memo to Telegraph staff this week, Anna Jones, the newspapers’ chief executive said: “The process continues, and we understand there are other bidders involved in the process that have not yet been disclosed.”
A deadline for formal bids has been set for September 27, with National World, the London-listed vehicle headed by David Montgomery, expected to table an offer.
If the Telegraph sells for at least £500m, it would enable RedBird IMI to recoup the £600m it paid last year for the right to convert debt attached to the assets into outright ownership.
The Telegraph auction is being orchestrated 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.
A number of unsuccessful bidders for the Telegraph have included Lord Saatchi, the former advertising mogul, who offered £350m.
Mediahuis, the Belgian publisher, also failed to make it through to the next round of the auction.
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.
IMI is controlled by the UAE’s deputy prime minister and ultimate owner of Manchester City Football Club, Sheikh Mansour bin Zayed Al Nahyan.
RedBird IMI declined to comment.