 No equity is thought to have changed hands although it has been reported that Badri Patarkatsishvili may have handed over some control of the station to News Corporation to defend it against politically motivated attacks from Mikheil Saakashvili.Patarkatsishvili was at the time running in opposition against Saakashvili in the Georgian presidential election, 2008.After Patarkatsishvili's death in February 2008, the issue of ownership of Imedi again came to public attention.