Wall Street giants vie to sell Telegraph and Spectator titles

A group of banks including the Wall Street behemoths Goldman Sachs and JP Morgan are vying for the prized mandate to sell The Daily Telegraph and its sister Sunday newspaper.

Sky News understands that the investment banks are on a shortlist to be picked by Lloyds Banking Group in the coming days to handle the sale of the titles, along with the current affairs magazine, The Spectator.

Sources said they expected advisers to be selected by Lloyds in the coming days if it finalises a plot to seize control of the assets from their long-standing owners, Sir Frederick Barclay and his family.

Lloyds is understood to believe the titles are worth in the region of £600m.

Britain’s biggest high street lender has appointed AlixPartners to act as receiver over B.UK Ltd, a Bermuda-based entity, which ultimately controls the companies which own two of the UK’s best-known newspapers.

Sky News revealed on Tuesday night that Lloyds is being advised by Lazard on its options for the assets, and that another investment bank will be chosen to kick off an immediate process to sell the Daily and Sunday Telegraph titles.

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The decision to take control of the Barclay-owned companies comes after years of talks about refinancing loans made to the family by HBOS prior to its rescue by Lloyds during the 2008 banking crisis.

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People close to the bank said that Charlie Nunn, Lloyds’ chief executive, was now taking “decisive action” to resolve the situation.

A sale process would be among the most hotly contested media auctions in Britain for years and would formally end the Barclay family’s nearly two decade ownership of the broadsheet newspapers.

Lloyds is expected to take control of a cascade of companies within the group, including Press Acquisitions, which controls the newspapers, as early as Wednesday.

Barring a last-minute agreement with the current owners, Lloyds would then remove directors appointed by the Barclay family, including Aidan Barclay, the chairman of the newspaper group.

However, the bank does not plan to place Telegraph Media Group or Press Acquisitions into administration themselves.

The newspaper titles are not remotely close to insolvency and indeed are said to be performing strongly, with a well-regarded management team led by chief executive Nick Hugh.

“It is an attractive asset that is likely to be straightforward to sell,” said one insider.

A sale for £600m, or anywhere close to it, would trigger a substantial writeback for Lloyds since it had written down the loan years ago.

Aidan Barclay is the nephew of Sir Frederick Barclay, the octogenarian who along with late brother Sir David engineered the takeover of the Telegraph in 2004.

Sir Frederick is currently embroiled in a £100m court battle over his divorce settlement.

The Barclays previously owned the Ritz hotel in London, and still own Very Group, the online retailer.

The bombshell move has been triggered by Lloyds’ dissatisfaction with the Barclays’ approach to repaying a loan which dates back to the pre-crisis era of large corporate loans issued by HBOS.

Lloyds’ intention to force the Barclay-owned entity into receivership was first reported by The Times on Tuesday evening.

A spokesperson for the Barclay family said: “The loans in question are related to the family’s overarching ownership structure of its media assets.

“They do not, in any way, affect the operations or financial stability of Telegraph Media Group.

“The businesses within our portfolio continue to trade strongly, are run by independent management teams, are well capitalised with minimal debt and strong liquidity.

“They have no liability for any holding company liabilities, continue to operate as normal and are unaffected by issues in the holding company structure above them.

The spokesman added that Telegraph Media Group had been “performing extremely well and now has over 750,000 subscribers”.

“The company recorded a 25% increase in operating profit during 2021, has recently successfully acquired Chelsea Magazine company, and is progressing strongly towards meeting its targets.

“Speculation about the business entering administration is unfounded and irresponsible.”

Lloyds and AlixPartners declined to comment.

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