The race to capture The Telegraph and associated assets grinds on in fund boardrooms and SW1 back room talking shops. Guido brings you the latest whispers from the rumour mill…
Guido has already reported on Paul Marshall’s potential bid, which could join forces with David Montgomery’s National World bid – though other partners are in the running for Marshall. Other horses rumored or confirmed to still be in the race include:
- DPG Media, a Belgian media company, whose tagline is ‘connecting by touching’. Nice…
- RedBird Capital Partners, a large PE firm with UAE links
- SRMG, the titanic Saudi media arm
- Lord Rothermere and his Associated Newspapers Ltd
- Former Telegraph editor Will Lewis’s consortium
A key talking point is the timetable. Access to the data room has not yet been granted – and most bidders will hold their cards close to their chests until they have inspected the state of the internal numbers. Speculation about the date of the general election may push the timetable forwards – with uncertainty over ownership impacting editorial operations. It will be critical for any buyer to be able to navigate inevitable Competition & Markets Authority interest. Moreover, the winning bid will need a mix of strong capital backing, editorial credibility and to pass the litmus test of media world gossip, Which mainly consists of hundreds of hacks nervously clucking about their jobs.
Guido has not confirmed the rumour that Steve Bannon indicated his interest to the Barclays and was told not to even bother trying to bid. It’ll take an experienced media hand, not just a money man, to pull off this deal…
Over at CPAC in Washington, the Trump base is preparing for war with the Republican establishment. Steve Bannon has identified Rupert Murdoch and Fox News as public enemy number one. This may confuse left-wingers who can’t distinguish between the different flavours of the right. Murdoch is in the Reagan / Thatcher tradition rather than the populist Trump camp with all the culture war craziness, foreign policy incoherence and protectionism. Bannon wants to at least neutralise Fox News’ Trump scepticism.
Ex-Trump adviser Steve Bannon has been whacked with a four-month jail sentence and ordered to pay a $6,500 fine for refusing to testify before Congress about the January 6th riots at the US Capitol Building. The judge did, however, rule that the sentence may not be imposed if Bannon appeals before 15th November. Bannon’s team have already suggested that’s exactly what they’ll do…
As the clock runs down on his presidency, Donald Trump went on a traditional Presidential pardon frenzy last night, issuing 73 full pardons and commuting 70 prison sentences. The widely-expected move included a full pardon for former White House chief strategist Steve Bannon, who was charged last year with defrauding public donors raising money for Trump’s border wall. An unusual choice, given Bannon hasn’t even stood trial yet …
Trump also pardoned the rapper Lil Wayne, who pled guilty to the possession of a firearm on a conviction over ten years ago. Notably, also among the list were a number of people convicted for nonviolent drug offences. View the full list here…
Missing from the pardon list was any preemptive clemency for Trump himself, the Trump family, or Rudy Giuliani. While there had been speculation in recent weeks that Trump was considering a flurry of pardons for his close circle just before leaving office, it seems like he decided against it. Trump’s December pardons of Charles Kushner (Jared’s dad), Paul Manafort, and Roger J. Stone Jr appear to have been enough for him…
Trump’s former top advisor and Breitbart editor Steve Bannon has been arrested this afternoon on charges of defrauding donors to Trump’s wall fundraising scheme, along with three associates. Always trust the US to bail Westminster out of a slow news day…
The accusations level charges of defrauding hundreds of thousands of donors through their campaign “We Build the Wall”, and all four men have been indicted by New York investigators, with the US Postal Inspection Service having “assisted the investigation”. The accusation of fraud is of $1 million being taken from the scheme with Bannon using “hundreds of thousands of dollars in [his] personal expenses”…
Read the charges and details in full here [Indictment PDF].
On LBC this morning Boris hit out at a “codswallop” story alleging he is somehow taking advice from Steve Bannon, who he hasn’t met since he met the then Chief of Staff to the President of the USA on an official visit as Foreign Secretary. The much reported ‘texting’ later on was just Bannon trying and failing to secure another meeting…
“This is the biggest load of codswallop I have ever heard.”
Carole is basically the Bannon of the left, churning out whatever she likes without regards for basic facts while her fanatical online following pile in with the retweets…
