The culture secretary, Lucy Frazer, has issued a public interest intervention notice triggering an inquiry by Ofcom, the media regulator, into whether the complex deal could breach requirements including the need for accurate presentation of news, free expression of opinion and sufficient plurality of views and persons with control of ownership.
The Barclays are attempting to push through a deal with Lloyds Bank which took control of the titles in June after the family failed to repay £1.2bn in debt - under which the consortium RedBird IMI would repay the loans and swiftly convert them into equity to take ownership of the titles.
RedBird IMI is a joint venture between the US investment firm RedBird Capital Partners and International Media Investments (IMI) of Abu Dhabi, the investment vehicle for Sheikh Mansour bin Zayed Al Nahyan. The sheikh, who provides most of the funding for RedBird IMI, is the vice-president of the UAE and owns Manchester City football club.
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