Clock ticks on RedBird deal to take ownership of Telegraph

The newspaper group seemed to heave a sigh of relief that its search for an owner was over, but Westminster's concerns about who has control is holding up proceeedings, writes Jane Martinson

- Jane Martinson

Not long after The Daily Telegraph ran a piece in February which decried the number of stopped clocks as a "symptom of Britain's decaying public spaces", the enormous digital clocks above the paper's newsroom, showing the time around the world, also broke down.

With the newspaper caught in a byzantine and controversial takeover battle, journalists could not help turning the breakdown into a joke.

After two years, the wait for new ownership seemed to come to an end on 23 May when the US private equity fund, RedBird Capital Partners, effectively declared itself the new owner with a £500m offer.

Three weeks on, there are signs the deal is far from done.

RedBird's offer came a week after the UK government had cleared the way by setting the cap for foreign state ownership of newspapers at 15%. Over a year ago, the previous Conservative government had blocked an earlier joint venture between RedBird and IMI of Abu Dhabi amid fears over foreign state control of a British newspaper group. The bid was audacious, messy and a geopolitical headache for both governments, and there were widespread sighs of relief when RedBird came up with a new deal which made it a controlling shareholder, while IMI was limited to a minority stake.

The newspaper announced an end to a period of "gruelling uncertainty". Gerry Cardinale, the charismatic RedBird founder, addressed staff at the Telegraph's Victoria headquarters and staff phones pinged with messages of congratulations amid talk of "a new era of growth" for the 170-year-old title.

But there are growing concerns on both sides of the house that the government's proposals could allow a consortium of foreign states to own a major media asset. This is because the draft legislation does not limit the number of states which can own 15% of any newspaper group.