Barclay family's £1bn 'back door' offer for Telegraph alarms rival bidders

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Bidders for the Telegraph are concerned the Barclay family's £1bn 'back door' offer could have a 'chilling effect' on the official auction, according to a source close to the process.

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26 Oct 2023

On Monday, the Barclays confirmed that they would make a £1bn Middle Eastern-backed offer to keep control of the Telegraph and Spectator titles. The business was seized by Lloyds bank in June after the family failed to reach an agreement over unpaid debt, at a hearing in the British Virgin Islands.

At the public hearing instigated by Lloyds in an effort dissolve a Barclay holding company to further ringfence the media titles from any potential future court wrangling after the sale, lawyers for the family said a deal to buy the titles could be done in just 15 days.

The auction, which is being run by the US bank Goldman Sachs and directors for the parent companies of the Telegraph and Spectator, and is chaired by Mike McTighe, is aiming to strike a deal with a successful bidder by the end of January.

However, for a number of bidders, subsequent regulatory