The high street lender will employ bankers within days to launch a £600 million sale process for some of Britain’s most recognizable print media assets.
Amidst a bitter dispute with the long-standing owners of the Telegraph newspapers and The Spectator magazine, Britain’s largest high street bank is lining up bankers to initiate a £600m auction of the titles within days.
Lazard is advising Lloyds Banking Group on its options for some of the most well-known media assets in the United Kingdom.
Tuesday night, industry sources reported that Lloyds intended to hire another large investment bank to immediately begin the process of selling the Daily and Sunday Telegraph titles.
That would formally terminate the Barclay family’s nearly two-decade ownership of broadsheet newspapers and set in motion one of the most contentious media auctions in Britain in recent memory.
According to an informant, Lloyds has already appointed AlixPartners as the receiver of Bermuda-based B.UK Ltd.
This appointment will pave the way for the bank to assume control of a succession of group companies. Including those that directly own the Telegraph and the Spectator.
According to the insider, Lloyds intends to pursue this course as early as Wednesday, allowing it to remove directors appointed by the Barclay family, barring a last-minute agreement with the current proprietors.
It is anticipated that Aidan Barclay, the chairman of the newspaper group, will be among those terminated.
However, the bank has no plans to place Telegraph Media Group or Press Acquisitions into administration.
Sir Frederick Barclay, the octogenarian who managed the 2004 Telegraph buyout with his late brother Sir David, is Aidan’s cousin.
Sir Frederick is currently embroiled in a £100 million divorce settlement court dispute.
Barclays once owned the Ritz hotel in London, and they still own the online retailer, Very Group.
Lloyds’ displeasure with Barclays’ repayment of a pre-crisis HBOS substantial corporate loan spurred the explosive move.
Lloyds rescued HBOS in 2008 and has been in communication with the Barclay family for a while.
The loans were hundreds of millions of pounds and were written down years ago. So the proceeds of a sale could provide Lloyds with a capital boost.
The Times first reported Lloyds’ intention to force the Barclay-owned entity into receivership.
The institution declined to comment.
Tuesday, a spokesperson for the Barclay family stated, “The loans in question are associated with the family’s comprehensive ownership structure of its media assets.
They do not affect the operations or financial stability of Telegraph Media Group in any manner.
Our portfolio companies have strong liquidity, autonomous management, little debt, and strong performance.
They continue to operate normally and are unaffected by problems in the holding company structure above them.
In addition, the spokesperson stated that the Telegraph Media Group was “performing exceptionally well and now has over 750,000 subscribers.”
“The company’s operating profit increased by 25 percent in 2021, it recently acquired Chelsea Magazine. And it is making significant progress towards its goals.
“Speculations about the company filing for bankruptcy are unfounded and irresponsible.”
AlixPartners did not respond.
