The ownership of Britain's best-selling broadsheet newspaper, the Daily Telegraph, was transferred yesterday to the Barclay brothers, the UK investors with extensive media, real-estate and retail interests.
The move follows months of legal strife between its former owner, Hollinger International, and Conrad Black, the newspaper baron whose attempt to block the closing of the £665 million sale was denied by a Delaware court.
Judge Leo Strine ruled on Thursday night that a company controlled by Lord Black did not have the right to vote on the disposal of the asset. An attempt by Lord Black to appeal the decision was rejected by the Supreme Court of Delaware.
Lord Black was ousted as chairman and chief executive of Hollinger International in an ongoing dispute over hundreds of millions of dollars in management fees.
Hollinger International said it was considering several options following a repayment of the company's debt, including a special dividend to shareholders and a self-tender for common stock.
The question may give rise to another conflict between Hollinger International and Hollinger Incorporated, a Toronto-based holding company controlled by Lord Black that owns 18 per cent of Hollinger International's stock and has 68 per cent voting control.
Nicholas Shott, managing director of Lazard, Hollinger International's adviser, said it would "not be surprising" if Hollinger International's board was considering if there was a way to hold back the payment of the proceeds to Lord Black.
The Canadian-born peer and others are the subject of a $1.25 billion lawsuit by Hollinger International and are alleged to owe the group nearly $400 million. Lord Black denies the allegations.
"For the board the question is . . . why would we want to give him more money when we think he owes us money?" Mr Shott said.
Hollinger Incorporated on Thursday said it looked forward to resuming full rights as a majority shareholder once a court-ordered injunction terminated in October.
Hugo Drayton, managing director of the Telegraph, welcomed the close of the deal and said the newspaper's new owner was not expected to begin a review of the business before September. The group also replaced its auditor, KPMG, with PwC.
Separately, Hollinger International said its audit committee was close to completing an investigation into the overstatement of circulation figures at the Chicago Sun-Times.
