The owner of US news website The New York Sun is nearing a deal to buy The Telegraph for more than £550m.
Dovid Efune is poised to enter exclusive talks with RedBird IMI to become proprietor in the coming days. Discussions are understood to be at an advanced stage, according to deal insiders.
RedBird IMI, which is running the sale process, declined to comment.
British-born Mr Efune first emerged as a bidder for The Telegraph last month. His financial backers include asset managers Oaktree and Hudson Bay Capital, the family office of US hedge fund manager Michael Leffell and the investment arm of Canadian real estate developer Beedie.
Mr Efune has owned The New York Sun, a Manhattan-based conservative title, since 2021. Upon acquiring the title, he promised to “bring the Sun’s principles-based journalism back to the center of the American political and cultural conversation”.
Mr Efune has not commented publicly on his plans for The Telegraph.
A deal would bring to a close a process that kicked off in June 2023 when the Barclay family lost control of The Telegraph to Lloyds Bank following a dispute over unpaid loans.
RedBird IMI, a fund led by former CNN boss Jeff Zucker and majority-backed by UAE vice president Sheikh Mansour bin Zayed Al Nahyan, then took control of both The Telegraph and The Spectator through a complex deal with the Barclays to help repay their debt.
However, the Government subsequently intervened because of concerns about state influence over the paper by the UAE and ultimately forced an onward sale.
Since then, The Telegraph has been run by independent directors as various parties have sought to acquire it.
RedBird IMI is seeking at least £500m for the newspaper in order to recoup the £600m it paid for the two titles last year. This was part of a deal to settle £1.2bn owed by the Barclay family to Lloyds Banking Group.
Rival bidders have included GB News owner Sir Paul Marshall and National World, a local newspaper group run by David Montgomery that publishes the Yorkshire Post and The Scotsman among other titles.
Sir Paul recently dropped out of the running after acquiring The Spectator magazine for £100m in September.
A £350m bid tabled by advertising tycoon Lord Saatchi was previously rejected, while Belgian publisher Mediahuis was also eliminated in the auction’s first round.
Daily Mail owner Lord Rothermere withdrew from the race over the summer amid concerns that any deal would face scrutiny on competition and media plurality grounds.
Before Mr Efune was proprietor of The New York Sun he was editor-in-chief of the Algemeiner, a Yiddish-language print newspaper he developed into an online destination for international Jewish news.