Court blocks Telegraph sale deal

BRITISH establishment newspaper The Daily Telegraph could soon be in the hands of a man who made his fortune from pornographic magazines, after an American court blocked a deal to sell control of the paper.

The court rejected plans by media tycoon Conrad Black, the major shareholder and former chairman of Telegraph owner Hollinger International, to sell the paper in a private deal to British media and property billionaires David and Frederick Barclay.

Media analysts said the decision paved the way for publisher Richard Desmond, owner of the Express and Star newspapers and a number of adult magazines and TV channels, to succeed in his proposed £500 million (€714m) takeover bid.