Newsflash: an Abu-Dhabi backed fund has said it is set to take control of the Telegraph newspaper group, after agreeing loans to repay debts owed by its previous owners, the Barclay family.

The news from RedBird IMI comes a month after the sale of the Telegraph newspapers and the Spectator kicked off.

Lloyds Bank has been holding an auction process, after taking control of the titles from the Barclay family after a row over more than £1bn in unpaid debt.

The Barclays, though, had tabled an offer valuing the Telegraph newspaper group at £1bn in an attempt to deter rival bidders.

Yesterday, a group of Conservative MPs wrote to the government asking it to use the UK’s national security laws to investigate the Barclay family’s attempt to regain control of the Telegraph newspaper group with funding from Abu Dhabi.

A spokesman for RedBird IMI says:

“RedBird IMI, a joint venture between RedBird Capital of the US and International Media Investments of Abu Dhabi, has reached an agreement to provide a package of loans to the Barclay family allowing them to pay off their debt to Lloyds Bank in full and bring the Telegraph and Spectator out of receivership.

“RedBird IMI will provide a loan to the value of £600 million, secured against the Telegraph and Spectator.

“Additionally, International Media Investments will provide a loan of a similar amount secured against other Barclay family businesses and commercial interests.

“Under the terms of this agreement, RedBird IMI has an option to convert the loan secured against the Telegraph and Spectator into equity, and intends to exercise this option at an early opportunity.

“Any transfer of ownership will of course be subject to regulatory review and we will continue to co-operate fully with the Government and the regulator.”

The spokesman for RedBird IMI added:

“Following transfer of ownership, RedBird Capital alone will take over management and operational responsibility for the titles under the leadership of RedBird IMI chief executive Jeff Zucker.

“International Media Investments will be a passive investor only.

“RedBird IMI are entirely committed to maintaining the existing editorial team of the Telegraph and Spectator publications, and believe that editorial independence for these titles is essential to protecting their reputation and credibility.

“We are excited by the opportunity to support the titles’ existing management to expand the reach of the titles in the UK, the US and other English-speaking countries.”

Today’s rally has pushed Microsoft’s shares to a new record high, extending their gains this year to over 55%.

They gained as much as 1.9% to hit $377.1, above last Thursday’s record high.

Reuters has the details:

The Nasdaq led gains among the main U.S. stock indexes on Monday as Microsoft climbed on news that former OpenAI head Sam Altman will join the software giant, while investors awaited more clues on when the Federal Reserve might begin cutting interest rates.

Microsoft’s shares advanced 1.4%, notching a record high after CEO Satya Nadella said Altman is set to join the company to lead a new advanced AI research team.

The information technology sub-index housing the stock was among top sectoral gainers, up 0.7%.

Other megacap stocks were mixed, with Amazon.com edging 0.7% higher, while Alphabet slipped 0.4%.

Newsflash: The staff of OpenAI are in open revolt over the shock departure of Sam Altman.

Around 500 staff have signed a letter threatening to leave unless the board resigns and reinstates Sam Altman as CEO, along with cofounder and former president Greg Brockman.

The letter says OpenAI (the firm behind ChatGPT) has pushed the field of artificial intelligence to new frontiers, but warns:

“The process through which you terminated Sam Altman and removed Greg Brockman from the board has jeopardized all of this work and undermined our mission and company.

Your conduct has made it clear you did not have the competence to oversee OpenAI.”

The letter has emerged just hours after Microsoft revealed it had hired Altman and Brockman, just after weekend negotiations to reinstate Altman under pressure from investers floundered.

In the letter, the staff say they may choose to resign and join Microsoft’s new AI division which will be run by Altman and Brockman.

They tell the board that the letter’s signaturies are “unable to work for or with people that lack competence, judgment and care for our mission and employees.”

Technology journalist Kara Swisher has posted the letter on X (formerly Twitter) – and points out that OpenAI’s chief scientist, Ilya Sutskever, has signed it, even though he is a member of the board that fired Altman.

As flagged earlier, Sutskever has posted on X today that “I deeply regret my participation in the board’s actions”.

That came shortly after OpenAI appointed Emmett Shear, the co-founder of Twitch, as interim CEO.

Altman had posted a photo yesterday of himself in the OpenAI offices, wearing a guest visitor badge for the “first and last time”, fuelling speculation he could be dramatically reappointed just a few days after being ousted.

Labour’s shadow business secretary has told corporate bosses that Rishi Sunak’s failure to grow the UK economy has made cutting taxes and increasing government spending harder to justify.

Speaking at the CBI’s “general election countdown” conference in Westminster, Jonathan Reynolds said an incoming Labour government would focus on growing the economy to help finance its spending plans, my colleague Richard Partington reports.

Reynolds was speaking after Sunak used his speech in north London this morning to argue the time was coming for tax cuts, ahead of chancellor Jeremy Hunt’s autumn statement on Wednesday.

Reynolds dodged questions at the CBI conference about whether now was the right time for tax cuts, or if Labour would be comfortable with maintaining the highest tax levels as a share of the economy in 70 years to finance its spending plans.

However, he said an incoming Labour government would focus on growing the economy.

Reynolds said:

“The focus of the government has changed. The focus we’ve got is the right set of priorities for the future of the country,” he said.

“Unless we get the economy growing more strongly than it has done since the Conservatives came to power, all of these questions about tax cuts, more spending, public services, they all get harder. And that’s why our absolute focus is on which measures will make the economy grow faster, will attract more private business investment.”

Asked about a comment Sunak made on Monday that Labour lacked political courage to cut the UK’s national debt, Reynolds quipped, “lectures in political courage from the prime minister?,” drawing laughter and applause from the crowd of business leaders.

He added:

“If you want to compare the evidence base of previous Labour governments, or the future plans we have, or what the Conservative party has delivered over the past 13 years, I think the evidence base is pretty stark.

“There has to be a level of self-awareness from the government and the statements they can make.”