UK private equity firm, Candover is understood to be preparing a bid for Hollinger International’s Telegraph Group.
According to reports in today’s Times, Candover has expressed an interest in Hollinger’s London division which owns The Daily Telegraph and The Sunday Telegraph.
It is believed that Chris Oakley, the former editor in chief of the Birmingham Post is heading the planning, although it is not known if he would run the group if the deal was accepted.
Candover is the latest firm to be linked to the Telegraph titles following the financial difficulties at Hollinger. The company faces an investigation by US regulators after its recent admission that it filed false statements to the Securities & Exchange Commission about executive pay. The scandal, which senior Telegraph executives have refered to as an “administrative error”, resulted in Conrad Black stepping down as chief executive (see Black Leaves Troubled Hollinger As Predators Circle).
The crisis at Hollinger has triggered huge speculation over the future of the group’s newspapers. A number of other private equity firms, including 3i Group and Apax Partners, have been muted as potential buyers.
Richard Desmond, publisher of the Express newspapers, is also understood to have instructed his financial advisors to put together a bid for the papers (see Desmond Puts Together Bid For Telegraph Titles).
His interest has resulted in more than a few raised eyebrows at the Telegraph’s offices. The prospect of arguably the establishment’s most conservative paper being headed up by a man who publishes top shelf magazines has left many uneasy.
The Daily Mail group is also reported to be considering a move for the titles. However it has been suggested that the newspaper groups could be thwarted by competition regulations, if Hollinger seeks a quick sale (see Big Guns Could Be Ruled Out Of Race For Telegraph Titles).
The prospect of either the Mail or the Express getting their hands on the Telegraph titles is likely to cause concern that editorial style and independence could be compromised. It has been suggested the move is symptomatic of the changing newspaper scene with “fewer and fewer owners snapping up more and more of what used to be a diverse national press”.
