As interest builds in an upcoming auction of Telegraph Media Group, former owners the Barclay family are reported have secured UAE funding to enable them to make a better offer.
Among those also understood to be interested in securing the UK publisher are Daily Mail publisher DMG, and regional group National World, which owns mastheads such as the Yorkshire Post, Portsmouth News and Sheffield Star following its 2021 acquisition of JPI Media.
According to Sky News in the UK, the Barclay family lodged a proposal last week to buy back roughly £1 billion (A$1.96 billion) of debt it owes Lloyds Banking Group which it said were based in the UAE capital of Abu Dhabi.
It says the bank is understood to have rejected the bid and will offer the daily newspaper and its Sunday sister title together with The Spectator magazine, the parent company of which was also placed into receivership. Goldman Sachs is expected to run the formal sale process this northern autumn.
Sir Frederick Barclay, now 88, had acquired the Telegraph for £665 million (A$1.3 billion) in 2004, together with his late twin brother Sir David, and the newspapers had been chaired by his nephew Aidan until June.
Lloyds – which picked up the debt with its rescue of HBOS – is not believed to by any hurry with chief executive Charlie Nunn quoted that he saw “no need to run a rushed sale process”.
The Sky News website accompanied the story with a photograph of 88-year-old Sir Frederick following a court hearing this month between him and his ex wife, to whom he had had been ordered to pay £100 million (A$196 million) in 2021.
Pictured: The Telegraph newsroom