Telegraph Media Group set to be put up for sale as Lloyds looks to ‘recover debts’

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The Daily Telegraph, Sunday Telegraph and The Spectator magazine are to be put up for sale

The Daily and Sunday Telegraph are to be put up for sale alongside The Spectator magazine due to debts owed by its parent group. The media organisation owns numerous established publications but it is thought that Lloyds Banking Group is looking to recover debts owed by the network of companies controlled by the Barclay family, which includes the Telegraph.

It has been reported that the scale of the loans owed means that it could be ‘challenging’ for Lloyds to recover the original value of the loan. However, the Barclay family said the loans did not affect the newspaper operations.

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A spokesperson for Barclays to the BBC "the loans in question are related to the family’s overarching ownership structure of its Media Assets. They do not, in any way, affect the operations or financial stability of Telegraph Media Group."

The statement said businesses within its portfolio continued to trade strongly and the Telegraph was performing "extremely well". Analysts estimate the titles to be worth around £500m.

According to the BBC, Lloyds Banking Group is understood to have appointed AlixPartners as the official receiver to sell assets to repay debts owed by the network of holding companies that ultimately controls the national newspapers and the Spectator magazine on behalf of the Barclay family.

Frederick and David Barclay bought the Telegraph Media Group (TMG), the parent of the newspapers, in a £665m sale in 2004. Alix Partners and Lloyds Banking Group both declined to comment.

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