The publisher of US news website The New York Sun has entered exclusive talks to buy The Telegraph for more than £500m.
Dovid Efune has signed an agreement with RedBird IMI providing a six-week window for negotiations to continue towards a potential agreement.
The 39-year-old will now be granted access to The Telegraph’s accounts to carry out detailed due diligence. Any deal would be scrutinised by the media regulator Ofcom under public interest laws and subject to approval by Lisa Nandy, the Culture Secretary.
Mr Efune said: “The Daily Telegraph and Sunday Telegraph symbolise the very best of world-class, independent journalism and a commitment to relentlessly seeking the public interest.
“This unique institution has a storied history as a pillar of the British press, dedicated to providing readers uninhibited, clear-eyed coverage of the most consequential issues of the day.
“As a lifelong newsman – variably as reporter, columnist, editor, and now publisher – I believe strongly that these values, in general, are fundamental to the advancement of any journalistic enterprise. It’s with these principles that The Telegraph is best positioned for even greater success going forward.”
Mr Efune, who was born in Britain but has built his media career in the US, first emerged as a bidder for The Telegraph last month.
He comfortably outbid rival suitors including National World, a local newspaper group run by David Montgomery.
Mr Efune has owned The New York Sun, a New York-based conservative online title, since 2021. Prior to this he was editor in chief of The Algemeiner, a Yiddish-language newspaper, which he transformed into an online outlet for international Jewish news in English.
It is still unclear how the newspaper executive will fund the takeover, but he is reportedly in talks with a number of potential backers. These include Stand Together, a conservative non-profit organisation funded by oil billionaires the Koch family.
RedBird IMI is seeking to recoup the £510m it paid for The Telegraph as part of a complex deal to settle £1.2bn in unpaid debts owed by former owners the Barclay family to Lloyds Banking Group.
The Abu Dhabi-backed fund was blocked from taking control by new legislation banning foreign state ownership of UK newspapers and has also racked up millions in advisory fees.
RedBird IMI declined to comment.