Barclay brothers set to battle for Telegraph

THE British billionaire businessmen the Barclay brothers are set to rejoin the battle for control of the Telegraph newspaper.

According to reports yesterday, the brothers are considering a renewed attempt to buy the Telegraph newspapers. A previous bid by David and Frederick Barclay to buy the 30% stake in Hollinger Incorporated owner of the Telegraph titles owned by Conrad Black was rejected by a US judge last week as unfair to other shareholders in Hollinger.

Reports yesterday said the Barclays may partner with a private equity firm to bid for the assets of Hollinger International.

Investment bank Lazard are holding an auction for the entire Hollinger group, including the two Telegraph newspapers, the Jerusalem Post and the Chicago Sun-Times. Hollinger International's market value is $1.6 billion has attracted international bidders.

They include the Daily Mail & General Trust, owner of the Daily Mail, Express Newspapers, the venture capital firm 3i, the Berry family, who sold the papers in the 1980s to Hollinger. Tony O'Reilly's Independent News & Media is not expected to join the bidding war.

Any British bidder would probably need an American partner to make a bid for the entire group which, if successful, would result in the British titles going to British-based operations and the American titles to US firms.