Barclays triumph in Daily Telegraph bid

Posted by Bertrand Pecquerie on June 23, 2004 at 12:53 AM

According to BBC news, "The Daily Telegraph - UK's best-selling broadsheet with a circulation of 873,000 copies - and its sister publications have been sold to the Barclay Brothers for £665m. The sale brings to an end months of bidding following the ousting of Lord Black as chief executive of Telegraph group owner Hollinger International. The Barclays, billionaire twin brothers who live in the Channel Islands, are the owners of the Scotsman newspaper and London's Ritz hotel." MediaGuardian adds that "the twins are understood to have raised their bid by tens of millions yesterday morning to beat their rivals (3i venture capital group proposed £650m), led by former Mirror boss David Montgomery."

And for the future, another MediaGuardian article is rather cruel: "Top managers at the Telegraph will immediately be wondering about their future if the Barclays look to stamp their authority on their new properties. The Telegraph's editor, Martin Newland - who has stewarded what has sometimes seemed like a rudderless ship since being appointed in October - could be the first for the chop.

And the group's management team, including editorial director Kim Fletcher and managing director Hugo Drayton, could be swept aside if the Barclays want to revamp the way the titles are run.

Contenders for plum jobs include former Barclays stalwarts, such as Andrew Neil; the BBC's business editor, Jeff Randall; and Charles Garside, the ex-editor of the twins' now defunct newspaper, The European."

Sources: BBC news, ". See also MediaGuardian

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