Meanwhile, The Telegraph and The Spectator remain profitable and financially stable but out of the family’s reach owing to the legal protections put in place by the Culture Secretary Lucy Frazer when she triggered a public interest investigation of their deal with RedBird IMI. 

Management of the companies is overseen by independent directors – Mike McTighe, Steve Welch and Boudewijn Wentink – who were originally sent in by Lloyds but kept in place by Frazer once the Barclays repaid their £1.2bn debt. When RedBird IMI formally pulls out of its takeover attempt, their role could end and Barclay family control be restored.

The independent directors’ discoveries could prove another stumbling block on The Telegraph’s road to new ownership, however. While the company was in receivership, it has been reported that the independent directors, as well as advisers and financial institutions, made reports of suspicious transactions to the National Crime Agency. The reports, required under the Proceeds of Crime Act, were triggered by the movement of large sums of money between The Telegraph and other companies controlled by the Barclay family.

While The Telegraph and its operations are not directly affected, sources said, the potential return of the company to Barclay family control, even temporarily, could trigger a cascade of damaging unintended consequences.

For instance, Lloyds remains the lender of around £60m to Press Acquisitions Limited, the parent company of The Telegraph and The Spectator. This corporate loan is separate to the £1.2bn debt repaid by the Barclay family and has never been in default.

It is understood that Lloyds made its own report of suspicious transactions to authorities as part of the receivership last year. If the Barclay family were to regain control, there would be a risk that Lloyds would feel obliged to call in the loan to avoid doing business with them. That, in turn, could pose a risk to the financial stability of The Telegraph.

Lloyds declined to comment on whether it had made a Suspicious Activity Report. A Barclay family spokesman previously said: “The accounts, including to the year ended 31 December 2022, have been fully audited and signed off by PwC.”

Eyes on the prize

Persuading potential buyers to get comfortable with such a colourful backdrop will be among RedBird IMI’s most crucial tasks as it seeks to recoup its outlay in the coming weeks.

The onward sale is to be jointly managed by the London boutique advisory Robey Warshaw and Raine of New York, which has built a name in transatlantic sports and media dealmaking.

Robey Warshaw’s best-known employee, George Osborne, was previously an enthusiastic and bullish advocate for the Abu Dhabi-backed deal, to the occasional frustration of other advisers who sensed high political danger.

Andrew Neil, the Spectator chairman who indulged in public clash of egos with Zucker, branded the former chancellor’s work on the bid “totally cack-handed” and argued that it inspired an opposition that was the broadest coalition in British politics “since we fought the Nazis”. In a Spectator column after his defeat, Osborne coyly described his role as “working out who is going to own this magazine”.

He nevertheless continues to position himself for a role in the process alongside the more experienced Sir Simon Robey, who RedBird IMI views as its main adviser at the firm.

Raine’s Joe Ravitch is in line to play a leading role too. An Anglophile who spends every summer in London, he has become a go-to figure for foreign owners selling high-profile British assets fraught with political difficulty. In the past two years he has sold Manchester United for the Glazer family and Chelsea for Roman Abramovich. 

Between them, Raine and Robey Warshaw will seek to stoke a bidding war. Most of the probable participants are already known: Sir Paul Marshall, the Daily Mail owner Lord Rothermere, the local newspaper consolidator National World, the Belgian group Mediahuis and Germany’s Axel Springer all registered interest in the aborted first auction.

Of them, Marshall has been among the most active since RedBird IMI was blocked, visiting Zucker and reactivating his bid team. Media analysts believe he and his US investment partner Ken Griffin have the appetite to pay more than £600m for The Telegraph and The Spectator, but the baggage of GB News and concern at the top of the Conservatives over his political intentions present challenges.

However, all would face hurdles. Rothermere’s DMGT would be especially likely to trip over competition concerns given its significant share of the national newspaper market.

In lobbying for the laws that killed off RedBird IMI’s bid it may have caused itself funding challenges, too. The Government came up with a much stricter regime than had been proposed by a cross-party group of peers led by the Conservative Baroness Tina Stowell. It is understood the outright ban on foreign state ownership triggered considerable anxiety at Rothermere towers, despite a report in November that DMGT had abandoned plans to part-fund its bid with Qatari cash.

Britain’s other main newspaper tycoon, Rupert Murdoch, has concerns too. His News Corp empire has previously relied on Saudi investment and has limited visibility over who is buying its shares in New York. Wrangling over the details of the new law on press ownership adds yet another question mark over the onward sale of The Telegraph. The irony that two of his major opponents are now trying to water down legislation they helped prompt will not be lost on Zucker.