Stay informed with free updates
Simply sign up to the Media myFT Digest — delivered directly to your inbox.
Rani Raad, the boss of Abu Dhabi’s International Media Investments, is set to leave the group as it nears the end of an ill-fated, two-year attempt to take control of the UK’s Telegraph newspaper.
Raad, a former top CNN and Warner Bros Discovery executive, will stand down from IMI next month, according to several people familiar with the situation.
IMI owns Abu Dhabi-based newspaper The National and CNN Business Arabic, and has a joint venture with Sky in the region. The media-focused investment vehicle is controlled by Sheikh Mansour bin Zayed Al Nahyan, vice-president of the United Arab Emirates and owner of Manchester City football club.
During his tenure at IMI, Raad oversaw a spate of investments such as the £1.1bn acquisition of All3Media, the British independent TV producer, and helped restructure and expand the media group.
However, the past two years were overshadowed by IMI’s tortuous attempt to first buy and then sell the UK’s Telegraph newspaper, alongside its US partner RedBird Capital Partners.
Raad is leaving for family reasons, according to those close to the executive, who added that he had wanted to wait until a resolution was in sight for the Telegraph saga.
RedBird this month finally agreed to take control of the newspaper after a previous attempt to buy it with the majority of the money provided by IMI was blocked by the UK government.
Under the terms of the new deal, IMI will take a 15 per cent stake in the newspaper group, the maximum the UK government allows any foreign state-backed group to hold.
Raad will remain at the company for the next month, supporting an interim executive committee that will oversee operations, and will continue to advise IMI.
In a statement, IMI said: “Rani made the decision to step down as CEO of IMI for personal reasons, made with the full support of IMI, and follows the successful completion of a transformative chapter for IMI.”
IMI said that under his leadership it had expanded, repositioned its brands and “laid the foundations for long-term growth”.
The statement added: “It is completely incorrect to suggest that the timing of Rani Raad’s departure has anything to do with the [Telegraph Media Group] process.”
IMI has been one of the Middle East’s most active investment groups in acquiring and investing in media, entertainment and sports assets.
It is also the main backer of RedBird IMI, the investment group run by former CNN boss Jeff Zucker, which had agreed to buy the Telegraph in 2023 as part of a deal to pay off the debts of the Barclay family, its previous owners.
However, the UK’s previous Conservative government blocked the takeover after it came under heavy pressure from backbench MPs and the Telegraph newsroom staff, who all expressed concerns about allowing a foreign state to control an influential British newspaper.
