Evening Standard investor unveiled as #Saudi businessman | Media | The Guardian

Evening Standard investor unveiled as Saudi businessman | Media | The Guardian:

The mysterious off-shore purchaser of a stake in the Evening Standard newspaper has been unveiled as a Saudi businessman with ties to the country’s state-owned bank.

Sultan Mohamed Abuljadayel bought a third of the news outlet’s parent company from Evgeny Lebedev, son of a Russia oligarch, for £25m at the end of last year, according to the FT. A spokesperson for the Evening Standard did not dispute that Abuljadayel was behind the purchase, which was made through a company registered in the Cayman Islands.

The confirmation of Saudi investment in London’s main newspaper, edited by the former Conservative chancellor George Osborne and distributes 860,000 copies a day for free across the capital, comes as scrutiny is growing of Middle Eastern investments in British media outlets.