Chelsea co-owner Todd Boehly holds talks over Telegraph takeover bid

Todd Boehly, the American billionaire who co-owns Chelsea FC, has discussed a deal to invest in The Telegraph.

RedBird IMI, the Emirati royal-backed joint venture, is attempting to recoup its own outlay on the newspaper after its bid to take control was blocked by legislation. Boehly was invited to the Abu Dhabi Grand Prix last weekend.

His potential involvement emerged on Tuesday as exclusive sale negotiations with Dovid Efune, the American media executive, are due to expire in the coming days.

Efune, the little-known publisher of the New York Sun, has been in exclusivity for almost two months, but doubts have been raised over his ability to finalise funding for the deal.

The expectation is that the Chelsea FC owner would prefer not to pursue alongside Efune, although some sources close to talks claimed he could join his bid. The 51-year-old was pictured in Abu Dhabi last week. It is understood that Jeff Zucker, the former CNN chief who heads RedBird IMI, was also in the United Arab Emirates capital over the grand-prix weekend for meetings with the fund’s Emirati backers.

On Monday, Sir Keir Starmer visited the UAE for talks with its president, Sheikh Mohamed bin Zayed Al Nahyan but Downing Street has refused to say whether The Telegraph sale was discussed at the meeting. The wealthy petrostate was angered this year when Rishi Sunak’s government passed a law blocking its attempted takeover of The Telegraph via RedBird IMI.

Downing Street has refused to say whether The Telegraph sale was discussed at the meeting. The wealthy petrostate was angered this year when Rishi Sunak’s government passed a law blocking its attempted takeover of The Telegraph via RedBird IMI. There has been speculation in Whitehall, however, that the Treasury has been demanding a higher threshold to placate the UAE as Sir Keir seeks billions of Middle Eastern investment in major projects

Boehly, meanwhile, is well-acquainted with The Telegraph’s appointed broker Raine, having struck a £2.5 billion deal with the same group in New York in 2022 to buy Chelsea from Russian billionaire Roman Abramovich. Boehly, who is co-founder and chief executive officer of Eldridge Industries, has invested across a wide range of industries from financial services to technology.

The possibility of Boehly’s involvement was first reported by the Financial Times but confirmed by other sources close to talks. Friends of Boehly declined to comment.

RedBird IMI will not engage with any new bidder until the exclusivity period with Efune has expired, sources maintained. RedBird IMI and its advisers, who include George Osborne, the former chancellor, entered exclusive talks with Efune in October after he comfortably outbid rivals and offered enough for RedBird IMI to recover its costs of more than £500 million.

It subsequently emerged that he did not have financing in place, and in November, the six-week exclusivity period was extended to give him more time to put a deal together.

RedBird IMI declined to comment.