The billionaire Barclay brothers and a consortium of buyout firms were left to contest the auction for Britain's Telegraph newspaper on Thursday after publisher Daily Mail quit because the price was too high.
Daily Mail & General Trust, publisher of its namesake mid-market tabloid and London's Evening Standard, had struggled to find a private equity partner for its bid before forming an 11th-hour consortium with CVC Capital last week.
That partnership collapsed late on Wednesday, according to sources close to the matter, after the buyout firm baulked at paying a hefty premium for Britain's top-selling broad-sheet.
"The price had moved beyond the level with which the consortium was comfortable," a source close to Daily Mail told Reuters.
The publisher said in a statement that talks with Lazard, the investment bank representing Telegraph owner Hollinger International, had been terminated, confirming a Reuters report on Wednesday.
Its withdrawal from the auction leaves the field to the billionaire Barclay brothers - owners of London's Ritz hotel and the Scotsman newspaper - and to a consortium made up of venture capital firm 3i and US buyout shop Veronis Suhler Stevenson.
Comments
Comments are closed.