A private equity firm, CVC Capital Partners, is mulling over the idea of purchasing The Telegraph newspaper. They already back the Six Nations rugby and English Premiership Rugby. CVC Capital has plenty of dosh and invests in countless grand brands. They are hashing out if they want to put in an offer for The Telegraph, with the auction deadline approaching. The interest of other potential buyers has grown, so it has become stiff competition.

CVC Capital Partners is weighing up a bid for The Telegraph, the newspaper group that owns the Six Nations rugby tournament and English Premiership Rugby, just days before the first-round auction for ownership.

CVC Capital Partners stands as one of the biggest amongst investment corporations. It possesses assets under management of roughly €186 billion, approximated to be £156 billion. The company has recently undergone a significant financing event in the city of Amsterdam. Nonetheless, it has not reached an ultimate determination that can reveal whether it’s going to put an outright bid for The Telegraph.

CVC is a leading acquirer and investor in businesses across Europe. The company holds stakes in big brands like Lipton Teas and part ownership of the Swiss watch manufacturer Breitling. It has also engaged with Lord Rothermere, the owner of the Daily Mail, through the backing of a bid for The Telegraph in 2004. They lost that auction to the Barclay brothers.

It was only a week ago that Lord Rothermere ruled himself out of the auction process, fearing that his newspaper group would be put through a prolonged and messy process if they tried to take control of The Telegraph.

We understand that any possible CVC offer would be to back the existing management of The Telegraph. The interest is being headed up by its sports, media, and entertainment group, which has also concluded deals with top rugby clubs and La Liga, Spain’s top football league.

Recently, Sir Paul Marshall—a backer of both GB News and the UnHerd website—looked at bidding for The Telegraph. He may now opt to join a larger group that is bidding for the newspaper, or focus on buying Spectator magazine, part of the same group.

Other likely bidders for The Telegraph are: David Montgomery’s media group National World, Lord Saatchi who is the former Tory co-chair, a Belgian media group named Mediahuis.

It remains unclear if CVC would like to buy the complete media group – which encompasses the Sunday Telegraph – or only the flagship Daily Telegraph newspaper and its website.

It is understood that Telegraph Media Group has set aside nearly £280 million to absorb the shock of the coronavirus crisis and cover potential losses on loans to the Barclay family. This is a contributing factor to the £244.6 million loss in 2023, even though it reported making profits of £33.3m the previous year.

Last month, a consortium led by Sheikh Mansour bin Zayed al-Nahyan of the UAE and a US investment firm called RedBird IMI were forced to relist The Telegraph. This comes after new British laws prevent foreign states or related individuals from owning UK newspaper assets.

RedBird bought the papers The Telegraph and magazine Spectator from the Barclay family, retiring their debts, including a £600 million loan against the newspapers.

Official bids for The Telegraph and Spectator titles are due by Friday night. The auctions for the newspapers are expected to go into the final rounds this summer. The titles have attracted “incredibly strong interest from multiple buyers,” RedBird IMI said. Other options include selling the business to a newly formed RedBird Capital group to comply with new ownership regulations, ways of ensuring the business recoups its £600 million outlay.