US Court Blocks Sale Of Hollinger To Barclay Brothers
Lord Conrad Black was last night described by a US judge as cunning and calculated as a ruling was passed blocking his sale of the Daily and Sunday Telegraph to the Barclay Brothers.
The ruling by Delaware’s Court of Chancery could allow Hollinger International to press ahead with the auctioning of its papers to the five other bidders understood to be interested in acquiring the titles.
The decision came at the conclusion of a three day hearing into Black’s actions surrounding the sale of his newspaper empire, Hollinger Inc, during which Judge Strine is understood to have described the beleaguered peer as having ‘breached his fiduciary and contractual duties’.
The on-going legal wrangles concerning the future of Hollinger stem from an accusation made last summer that Black, along with several other Hollinger executives, pocketed £160 million in one-off payments from the company over the course of several years.
The latest decision over the company’s future will almost certainly be contested by Black who is counter-suing Hollinger International, claiming that it has illegally interfered with the agreed disposal to the Barclays.
Earlier this month The Daily Mail & General Trust entered the battle to take control of the Telegraph newspapers, teaming up with private equity firm Cinven to make a bid in excess of £550 million making it the last in a long line of prospective purchasers.
Other potential bidders are thought to include, Richard Desmond’s Express Newspapers, UK stock broker Collins Stewart and a number of private equity companies including 3i, Candover and Apax Partners (see DMGT Enters Telegraph Battle As Hollinger Receives Bids).
Whoever gains eventual control of the newspaper group will assume control of a range of high-profile titles including the Daily and Sunday Telegraph, the Chicago Sun-Times and the Jerusalem Post.
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