Hedge fund tycoon Sir Paul Marshall has snapped up The Spectator political magazine business.

The GB News backer has paid £100 million to buy the influential publication.

The takeover, which has been completed through the multi-millionaire’s Old Queen Street Ventures company, comes after a lengthy auction process to find a new owner.

The Spectator and fellow media business Telegraph Media Group (TMG) were both owned by the billionaire Barclay family until last year.

The businesses were put up for sale to help pay off debts from the family to lenders at banking firm Lloyds.

They were sold to media consortium RedBird IMI, a group backed by the United Arab Emirates and US investment firm RedBird, through a call option worth £600 million.

However, in March, the UK Government forced RedBird IMI to put the media businesses back on the market after launching legislation blocking foreign states from owning UK newspaper assets.

The Telegraph group is still for sale and has gained strong interest from bidders both in the UK and internationally, the group said.

The plan is for OQS to make good previous underinvestment in one of the world’s great titles

The Spectator is one of the world’s oldest politics and current affairs magazines, established in 1828 in London’s Old Queen Street.

Sir Paul said he was a “long-term Spectator reader” and “delighted” with the acquisition through his Old Queen Street (OQS) media group.

“The plan is for OQS to make good previous underinvestment in one of the world’s great titles,” he said.

Sir Paul rose to prominence as the co-founder of Marshall Wace, a global alternative investment manager of more than 65 billion US dollars in assets.

OQS also owns online magazine UnHerd, as well the Old Queen Street Cafe and a publishing technology startup the UnHerd Club and CoEditor Limited.

It is also acquiring international art magazine Apollo, which was founded in 1925.

Freddie Sayers, the chief executive of OQS and the editor-in-chief of UnHerd will also become publisher of The Spectator.

Mr Sayers said: “Our ownership will not only add energy, global ambition, and digital innovation, it will invest in journalism and be committed to the highest standards, with a dedication to the core principles which underpin a free press: accurate presentation of news and free expression of opinion.

“I look forward to working alongside The Spectator’s world-class team to make sure it continues to flourish and reach new audiences.”