Two New Bidders Battle For Control Of Hollinger

Hollywood media mogul Haim Saban (pictured) has teamed up with German publisher Axel Springer in his bid to take control of Hollinger International, the beleaguered newspaper group which owns the Daily and Sunday Telegraph.

It is understood that the consortium secured backing from venture capitalist house Hellman & Friedman to table the first all-paper offer for Hollinger’s assets, which also include the Jerusalem Post, the Chicago Sun-Times and Spectator magazine.

Hollinger International’s investment bank, Lazard, has invited indicative offers for the entire newspaper company. A successful bid is likely to come in at more than £940 million, last night’s market value of the newspaper group.

However, reports suggest that Saban’s joint bid faces strong opposition from Kohlberg Kravis Roberts, the management buyout firm that has strong links to Hollinger’s dominant shareholder, Lord Conrad Black of Crossharbour.

Bidders for the whole business are likely to have an advantage over those chasing particular assets because the individual sale of Hollinger’s principal newspapers looks set to trigger a significant tax liability.

Lazard hopes to have received final offers within six to eight weeks after the remaining bidders have had access to detailed financial information about the company and its publications. It is understood that management presentations will be made to potential buyers starting next week.

A number of high profile bidders are thought to have tabled offers for the Daily and Sunday Telegraph, including Lord Rothermere’s Daily Mail & General Trust and the Barclay brothers. A handful of venture capitalists and private equity firms have also submitted bids.

However, both Richard Desmond’s Express Newspapers and American publishing giant Gannett have pulled out of the race, saying the price was too high. Gannett was tipped as a front-runner for the papers, but sources close to company said the bidding process has driven the price of the Telegraph titles to ‘crazy’ levels (see Gannett Pulls Out Of Race For Telegraph Titles).

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