Hedge fund investor snaps up UK's The Spectator magazine for $131 million

LONDON -- A hedge fund investor has bought The Spectator, one of the world's oldest political magazines, for 100 million pounds ($131 million) after a months-long search for a new owner for the British publication, those involved in the sale said Tuesday.

Millionaire Paul Marshall is already the co-owner of U.K. channel GB News, which launched three years ago as a right-leaning, Fox News-style alternative to mainstream news channels.

His takeover of The Spectator came after the U.K. government blocked a United Arab Emirates-backed consortium from buying the Telegraph Media Group, which owns the Daily Telegraph and Sunday Telegraph newspapers and The Spectator. The publications are closely allied to Britain's Conservative Party.

The media group, previously owned by the Barclay family, was put up for sale to help pay off the family's debts. A deal was struck to sell the business to RedBird IMI, a consortium backed by U.S. financial firm RedBird Capital Partners and Sheikh Mansour bin Zayed Al Nahyan, a member of Abu Dhabi’s royal family and the UAE’s vice president. The group is run by former CNN chief Jeff Zucker.

But the consortium pulled out in March following strong opposition from the U.K. government, citing concerns about the impact on freedom of expression and accurate presentation of news. Government officials launched legislation to block foreign state ownership of British newspapers and magazines.

Marshall, who also owns the conservative commentary website Unherd, said that he was a “long-term Spectator reader” and that he was delighted with the acquisition through his Old Queen Street media group.

“The plan is for OQS to make good previous underinvestment in one of the world’s great titles,” he said.

The Spectator, established in 1828 in London, is believed to be the oldest-surviving current affairs magazine in the world. Previous editors include Boris Johnson (1999-2005), who went on to become U.K. prime minister from 2019 to 2022.

The magazine's chairman, Andrew Neil, said that he was resigning from the role after the takeover was confirmed Tuesday. Neil, a veteran political journalist, said in a farewell letter to staff that he regretted not finding “a new home guaranteed to nurture the unique chemistry of The Spectator.”

The Telegraph newspapers remain up for sale.