Published by Global Banking & Finance Review®
Posted on September 17, 2025
2 min readLast updated: January 21, 2026
Add as preferred source on GoogleJeff Zucker warns that UK regulations are stifling investment growth, affecting media and financial markets, and calls for changes to foster economic growth.
CAMBRIDGE, England (Reuters) -Jeff Zucker, the chief executive of Abu Dhabi-backed RedBird IMI, said Britain's regulation of media and financial markets was deterring investment and holding back economic growth.
RedBird IMI bought Britain's All3Media, the producer of hit TV show "The Traitors," last year for 1.15 billion pounds ($1.43 billion).
It also agreed to buy Britain's Daily Telegraph newspaper in 2023, but it scrapped the deal after the government intervened to stop foreign states owning newspapers. RedBird Capital Partners, one half of the joint venture, took control of the title earlier this year.
"The regulatory environment here has to change if the UK is going to continue to thrive," Zucker said at the Royal Television Society's Cambridge Convention on Wednesday.
He said change was not only needed in media regulation but also in London's stock market, where IPOs are at a 30-year low.
"As we think about investing in companies that we want to grow and maybe eventually take public, London is not necessarily the place we would want to do that," he said.
"We want to keep growing All3, we want to eventually think about bigger companies that can go public, but unless the regulatory environment and the rules around capital on the London Stock Exchange change, I don't think that's something we would look to do."
Britain's financial regulator said in July it would ease some regulatory rules to make it easier for companies to raise the money they need to grow.
Zucker said the quality of British creativity was unmatched and its content travelled globally, but regulatory impediments were stopping "us from tripling down here".
RedBird IMI was in early talks to buy British broadcaster ITV's Studios business, sources told Reuters in January, but a deal has not materialised.
Zucker said TV production would consolidate, but did not talk about any possible targets.
"I think there will be consolidation in this business over the long term, there needs to be," he said.
(Reporting by Paul Sandle. Editing by Jane Merriman)
Zucker stated that the regulatory environment in the UK needs to change for the country to continue thriving, particularly in media and financial markets.
The deal was scrapped after the UK government intervened to prevent foreign states from owning newspapers.
Zucker mentioned that IPOs in London are at a 30-year low, which affects their investment decisions.
The UK's financial regulator announced plans to ease some regulatory rules to help companies raise the necessary funds for growth.
Zucker believes that there will be consolidation in the TV production business over the long term.
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