Former FT editor Barber among others to acquire The New European

The New European, a weekly publication owned by Archant, has been bought by its management and investors including the former heads of the BBC and the Financial Times.

These include Mark Thompson, the former BBC director-general and chief executive of the New York Times; Lionel Barber, the former editor of the FT; and Taavet Hinrikus, the co-founder of the fintech group TransferWise.

Gavin O’Reilly, the former chief executive of The Independent, will become executive chairman of the new group.

Other investors include Jeff Henry, the former chief executive of Archant, who approved the launch of the title in 2016, and the venture capitalists Robin Klein, general partner at LocalGlobe, and Barry Maloney of Balderton Capital.

The newspaper has a combined weekly print and online circulation of around 20,000. The contributors include author Bonnie Greer, the Guardian journalist Jonathan Freedland, and Booker prize winner Howard Jacobson.

Matt Kelly, the former head of content at Archant who launched the New European, along with his investors is relying on the paper’s potential to find a market of readers who do not feel at home with rival news periodicals such as the center-left New Statesman and center-right Spectator.

“With new investment capital in place and seasoned media investors, we have a very clear vision of how we can better enhance the experience for our readers and employ new innovations and product developments,” Kelly said.