Citadel founder Ken Griffin in talks to help fund bid for U.K.'s Telegraph newspaper group

By Clive McKeef

U.S. billionaire Ken Griffin, founder of the Citadel hedge fund, is in talks to help fund a transatlantic takeover bid for the U.K.'s Telegraph newspaper that is being led by Paul Marshall of the London-based hedge fund Marshall Wace, the Telegraph reported.

An auction for the publication is expected to begin in the coming weeks. Lender Lloyds Banking Group (UK:LLOY) took control of the publication in June after a dispute over loans of about $1.7 billion made to the company's prior owners, the Barclay family.

The Barclay family offered to buy back the Telegraph and the weekly magazine the Spectator, which was also seized by Lloyds, the report said, but their $775 million bid was rejected. The Spectator is expected to be sold off in a separate auction, according to the Financial Times.

Griffin currently has no media holdings, and any bid for the Telegraph would be the first time he has personally invested in the industry, the Financial Times reported.

The 54-year-old is worth roughly $35.4 billion, according to Forbes, which ranked him at No. 35 on its 2023 list of billionaires, meaning he is the world's richest hedge-fund manager.

"I care deeply about individual rights and freedom, economic policies that encourage prosperity and upward mobility, all children having access to a high-quality education, ensuring our communities are safe, and a strong national defense," Griffin said last week, the Telegraph reported.

Griffin, whose hedge fund profited as a market maker during the so called meme-stock craze in 2021, is depicted in the new movie "Dumb Money."

Marshall is working with a former executive from the Daily Mail and General Trust, the owner of the U.K. paper the Daily Mail. Marshall is also the owner of the right-leaning TV channel GB News.

Other potential bidders include DMGT, former Telegraph editor William Lewis, Czech billionaire Daniel Kretinsky and News UK, owned by News Corp (NWSA), which is controlled by the Murdoch family. The Financial Times reported, however, that Rupert Murdoch would be most interested in the Spectator magazine.

News Corp is the parent of Dow Jones, which publishes MarketWatch.

-Clive McKeef

This content was created by MarketWatch, which is operated by Dow Jones & Co. MarketWatch is published independently from Dow Jones Newswires and The Wall Street Journal.

(END) Dow Jones Newswires

09-26-23 1520ET

Copyright (c) 2023 Dow Jones & Company, Inc.