The initial sale of The Spectator to RedbirdIMI cost the current affairs magazine £6.4m as it fell into the red in 2023.
The sale costs made up the majority of the £6.9m pre-tax and operating losses at The Spectator (1828) Ltd in 2023 – described as a “turbulent time” in newly-published company accounts.
A year earlier, when still under Barclay family ownership alongside The Telegraph, The Spectator made £2.6m in profit.
Further as-yet undisclosed costs have since been accrued from the subsequent sale of The Spectator from RedbirdIMI to Sir Paul Marshall in the 2024 financial year.
GB News investor Marshall’s Old Queen Street Ventures Limited, which also owns Unherd, bought The Spectator in September 2024 for £100m.
The new owners, led by publisher and company director Freddie Sayers, promised to “prioritise investing in journalism, talent and the latest technology, with the aim of building a strong future for The Spectator and supporting it to reach new audiences”.
The £6.4m costs connected with the initial sale process between October and December 2023 encompassed receivers, independent directors, bankers, lawyers, consultants and employee retention payments.
By December 2023 the group had net assets of £9.7m, down from £16.6m at the end of 2022.
The 2023 accounts for The Spectator revealed an 8% dip in consolidated turnover to £19.2m blamed largely on “difficulties with a subscription technology platform migration” despite a recovery in the second half of the year.
Consolidated earnings before interest, taxation, depreciation and amortisation (EBITDA) fell from £2.9m in 2022 to £0.1m.
Post-sale, the brand is now looking to grow and better engage its subscriber base, add corporate events and review costs.
It is also looking at investment in the US, where it sees a path to profitability. In 2023 the US made up 4% of revenue.
The accounts confirmed Marshall has provided loans to cover the additional funding needed for investment in 2025.
In 2023, 77% of The Spectator's revenue came from circulation (newsstand sales and subscriptions) and the rest from other streams such as events.
The Spectator, alongside then-sister publisher Telegraph Media Group, was effectively repossessed in June 2023 as Lloyds Banking Group sought to make up outstanding debt of around £1bn from the Barclay family.
Abu Dhabi-backed investment firm RedbirdIMI forced the initial sales process that year to end early by making a mammoth offer to pay off the Barclays' debts.
But RedbirdIMI was later forced into selling off the media brands after concerns raised by Spectator and Telegraph journalists about the potential "implications for the trustworthiness of news" of foreign state ownership led to new Government legislation.
After Marshall's acquisition of The Spectator, long-time editor Fraser Nelson left the title and former Conservative minister Michael Gove was appointed.
Telegraph Media Group has not yet found a new buyer able or willing to meet the asking price of more than £500m.
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