The future ownership of the Daily and Sunday Telegraph has once again been thrust into the spotlight, after it emerged that the newspaper group’s parent company faces the threat of being put into administration by lenders.
Lloyds Banking Group has threatened to put Press Acquisitions, the company controlled by the Barclay family that owns the newspapers’ parent company, Telegraph Media Group (TMG), into administration after a breakdown in talks over loans the business has racked up over the years.
If the two sides do not come back to the negotiation table to hammer out a new deal over about £65m in loans, then Lloyds is prepared to call in a restructuring advisory group and appoint insolvency practitioners “within days”, according to the Times.
One source said that TMG is in “good financial shape” and cautioned that trouble with one of the Barclay family’s holding companies did not mean that the newspapers will once again be up for sale.
“The loans in question are related to the family’s overarching ownership structure of the family’s media assets,” said a spokesperson for the Barclay brothers. “They do not, in any way, affect the operations or financial stability of TMG.
“The businesses within our portfolio continue to trade strongly, are run by independent management teams, are well capitalised with minimal debt and strong liquidity. They have no liability for any holding company liabilities, continue to operate as normal and are unaffected by issues in the holding company structure above them.”
TMG boosted profits to £29.6m last year and recently returned to acquisition mode, buying the Chelsea Magazine Company, the publisher of titles including the English Home and Classic Boat in March.
“Speculation about the business entering administration is unfounded and irresponsible,” said the spokesperson.
However, turbulence in the affairs of the Barclay family led to the newspapers being put up for sale in 2019 as part of a family feud between Sir Frederick Barclay and his twin brother David, who died two years ago.
While the review of the Barclays’ assets did not ultimately result in firm talks about a sale of TMG, which the brothers paid £665m for in 2004, it sparked intense interest in a rare opportunity to potentially own one of the UK’s crown jewel media assets.
Potential suitors that emerged included DMGT, the parent company of the Mail, MailOnline and i newspapers; the Belgian group Mediahuis; and the Amazon founder, Jeff Bezos, who paid $250m (£201m) to buy the Washington Post in 2013, and who has previously been linked to a potential bid.
Press Acquisitions, which is controlled by the Jersey-registered May Corporation, is run by Aidan and Howard Barclay, Sir David’s sons.
The pair also control Ellerman Holdings, the holding company of the family’s UK assets, which include online retailer Very and the delivery group Yodel. The family, who also own the Spectator, sold the Ritz hotel in 2020 to a Qatari investor.
