Independent directors, managers and senior journalists at the Telegraph are in line for bonuses if an Abu Dhabi-backed fund is successful in its bid to buy the newspapers

Independent directors, managers and senior journalists at Telegraph newspapers are in line for bonuses if their sale to an Abu Dhabi-backed fund goes through.

They will receive the payouts under an incentive scheme set up by consultants AlixPartners after they were appointed by Lloyds Banking Group to sell the titles through a formal auction process.

However, that auction was halted after the Telegraph’s owners, the Barclay family, did a deal with Abu Dhabi-funded RedBird IMI allowing them to repay a £1.2 billion debt to Lloyds. Having taken on that debt, RedBird plans to convert it into ownership of the titles.

The deal is being held up after Culture Secretary Lucy Frazer ordered a public interest investigation.

The Telegraph’s independent directors – Mike McTighe, Stephen Welch and Boudewijn Wentick – will receive bonuses on completion of the takeover by RedBird, which is backed by Sheikh Mansour, the vice-president of the United Arab Emirates and a member of the ruling family of Abu Dhabi. 

Independent directors, managers and senior journalists at Telegraph newspapers are in line for bonuses if their sale to an Abu Dhabi-backed fund goes through

The Telegraph’s independent directors – Mike McTighe, Stephen Welch and Boudewijn Wentick – will receive bonuses on completion of the takeover by RedBird, which is backed by Sheikh Mansour (pictured), the vice-president of the United Arab Emirates and a member of the ruling family of Abu Dhabi

Critics, including several Tory MPs and a string of senior Telegraph journalists, have argued that a fund linked to a foreign state with a poor record on press freedom should not be allowed to own one of Britain’s most important newspapers.

It is understood that the directors do not have a specific incentive to ensure the RedBird deal goes through, and will also get the bonuses if the Telegraph titles are sold to another buyer. DMGT, which owns the Daily Mail, was among other potential bidders.

READ MORE: Former MI6 chief warns the proposed takeover of The Telegraph and Spectator by an Abu Dhabi-backed fund poses a ‘profound security concern’

But in practice the bonuses will be paid out sooner if the RedBird takeover is cleared to go ahead – and they could be delayed if the proposed acquisition becomes the subject of a full review by media regulator Ofcom ending in a government rejection of the acquisition and resumption of the auction process.

The directors have no say in pushing through the deal and have not made submissions to the investigation into it by the Competition and Markets Authority and Ofcom ordered by Ms Frazer. 

But they are obliged to provide factual information in the regulatory process. Yesterday was the last day for anyone to submit comments to regulators. They are due to report to Ms Frazer by January 26.

Mr McTighe is also chairman of broadband provider Openreach, and was a member of the board of Ofcom from 2007 to 2015. 

He worked at Ofcom alongside Ed Richards, who was head of the watchdog from 2006 to 2014. Mr Richards’ public affairs firm Flint Global is advising RedBird on its proposed takeover.

Dame Melanie Dawes, chief executive of Ofcom, has recused herself from involvement in the regulator’s inquiry into the deal as her husband Ben Brogan is public affairs chief of Lloyds Banking Group.

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