The government will allow foreign countries to own up to 15% of the shares in British newspapers, a move that could eventually end two years of uncertainty about ownership of the Telegram champion.

The Ministry of Culture, Media and Sports will end a months-long consultation involving a massive lobbying by newspaper owners by introducing new statutory tools in Parliament on Thursday.

The 15% cap could enable Gerry Cardinale's U.S. private equity firm Redbird Capital to complete daily and Sunday Telegraph deals.

Labour has been considering ownership thresholds since the Conservative government passed a law to block foreign or relevant personnel from owning newspaper assets in the UK as they attempted to buy a telegraph champion for attempting to buy an Abu Dhabi-backed consortium.

Redbird Imi - A joint venture between Redbird Capital and Imi, funded by Sheikh Mansour Bin Zayed Al-Nahyan, vice president of the United Arab Emirates and owner of Manchester Football Club, controlled the publishing group in November 2023.

The consortium agreed to pay back debts from its former owner Barclay family and was then forced to conduct an auction process to try to recover its £500 million investment when the new law is "no longer viable".

The former Conservative government has been considering a cap of 5% to 10%.

Culture Minister Lisa Nandy settled at a 15% threshold after lobbying including Rupert Murdoch’s UK, owner of the Sun and Times champions and Daily Mail Mail, Daily Mail & General Trust (DMGT) (DMGT).

Newspaper groups believe that setting a bar that is too low may cut a significant source of potential funding for the industry.

Nandi said the cap level would protect newspapers and news journals from state influence or control while minimizing any potential “refrigeration effect” that completely cuts state-owned investment.

"We fully adhere to the need to protect our news media from foreign state control while recognizing that news organizations must be able to raise important funds," Nandy said.

"We are taking a proportional, balanced approach. The free and independent media in the UK is a unique national asset."

DMGT held talks with Katari supporters to seek potential bids for the telegraph, but believed that the competition issue could thwart any potential deal.

The threshold setting allows Redbird Capital to hold a 25% stake in the Redbird IMI joint venture to fully develop potential deals to take over the Telegram title.

US-based Redbird (including shares held in the parent company of Liverpool Football Club) and is seeking to jointly acquire Paramount for TV and film business - a deal that will roll out a deal into a deal that will bring 75% of IMI's 75% stake in the joint venture to a level acceptable to the government.