Telegraph newspapers and Spectator are put up for sale
- Lloyds took control of the Telegraph Media Group and The Spectator in June
- National World, DMGT and Axel Springer have been mentioned as potential suitors
- Ex-owners Sir David and Frederick Barclay acquired TMG in 2004 for £665 million
The sale process for the acquisition of the Daily and Sunday Telegraph and The Spectator has formally begun.
Lloyds Banking Group took control of the Telegraph Media Group and the magazine from the Barclay family in June after talks between the parties over outstanding debts totaling more than £1 billion collapsed.
It appointed restructuring consultancy AlixPartners as liquidators of Bermuda-based B.UK, the holding company for the publications, to prepare for the sale of the assets to help reduce its heavy debt pile.
Up for auction: Lloyds Banking Group took control of the Telegraph Media Group and the magazine from the Barclay family in June following talks between the pair
Since then, speculation has intensified over who would choose Britain’s three most prominent conservative media outlets.
In August, local newspaper publisher National World, which owns the Yorkshire Post and The Scotsman, said it was interested in buying the titles as such a deal would be in line with its growth strategy.
Other potential contenders include GB News backer Sir Paul Marshall, Daily Mail and General Trust, and German media giant Axel Springer, while Rupert Murdoch’s News UK has been mentioned as a possible candidate for The Spectator.
However, Sky News reported this on Monday that the Barclay family tried to bypass the sale process with a £1 billion bid for Abu Dhabi’s Daily Telegraph investors.
It claimed that Sheikh Mansour bin Zayed Al Nahyan, the deputy prime minister of the United Arab Emirates and the owner of Manchester City Football Club, was among those involved in the talks.
But Lloyds still plans to sell the paper through a formal process overseen by investment banking giant Goldman Sachs and has questions about Barclays’ source of funding.
Now that the auction has begun, potential bidders can view TMG’s financial and operating statements in more detail.
Analysts predict the two Telegraph titles could be bought for between £452 million and £586 million, while the Spectator, the world’s oldest surviving weekly newspaper, could fetch a price tag of up to £70 million.
Brothers Sir David, who died in January 2021, and Frederick Barclay took over TMG for £665 million in 2004 from Hollinger, whose chairman was controversial press baron Conrad Black.
Once Britain’s wealthiest family in publishing and advertising, the pair, who had a notoriously bitter feud, also owned London’s Ritz Hotel, retailer Littlewoods and delivery group Yodel.
Their ownership of the Telegraph coincided with the continued long-term decline in print circulation and advertising that was affecting the British newspaper industry.