RedBird Capital Partners announced on Friday that they have finalized a $675 million agreement to acquire the Telegraph newspaper from Britain after a long and eventful acquisition process.

This significant investment marks the largest one in UK print media within the last ten years, solidifying RedBird’s ownership of the conservative broadsheet, which has been in operation for 170 years and is affectionately known as the Torygraph. RedBird was established in 2014 by investor Gerry Cardinale.

As part of this transaction, RedBird mentioned that International Media Investments, supported by a member of Abu Dhabi’s royal family, Sheikh Mansour bin Zayed Al Nahyan, is set to obtain a minority interest in The Telegraph, pending court approval.

RedBird said it is also in talks with UK-based minority investors “with print media expertise and strong commitment to upholding the editorial values of The Telegraph.”

This includes the owner of the UK’s Daily Mail newspaper, who is looking into a nearly 10% stake, according to The Wall Street Journal.

Cardinale’s RedBird has stakes in several media ventures, including Skydance Media, which is awaiting approval of its $8B merger with Paramount Global.

The deal process for the The Telegraph has been anything but smooth-sailing for RedBird, which initially agreed to buy The Telegraph and its smaller sister paper The Spectator through a joint venture with IMI in 2023.

But the British government blocked the takeover that same year following protests from Parliament over foreign entities acquiring UK media, since the deal gave IMI a controlling stake in The Telegraph.

The joint venture, RedBird IMI, retained control of The Telegraph while it sought out alternate bids.

Dovid Efune, the British-born owner of The New York Sun, emerged as a leading contender to buy The Telegraph, but he struggled to secure financing before a deadline last year.

In the meantime, RedBird IMI sold The Spectator for approximately $135 million to Paul Marshall, a British hedge fund manager who owns right-leaning media assets like GB News and UnHerd.

However, the British government announced law reforms last week allowing foreign entities to own stakes of up to 15% in UK newspapers, opening the door for the new Redbird and IMI deal.

RedBird has also invested in Fenway Sports Group, which owns the Boston Red Sox and Liverpool FC; the New York Yankees’ sports network, and All3Media, the UK’s largest independent TV and film production company.

The Telegraph competes with several other right-leaning UK publications, including the Times of London, which is owned by Rupert Murdoch’s News Corp. News Corp also publishes The Post.

RedBird said it plans to invest in The Telegraph’s digital operations and focus on international brand growth, especially in the US.