Remember Fairfax, the blue-chip Australian newspaper group that Tony O'Reilly and Conrad Black fought acrimoniously over back in the early 1990s. On that occasion, Conrad Black won the takeover battle and used the opportunity to snipe at Tony O'Reilly's credentials as an international newspaper magnate.

Now there is renewed speculation that Fairfax might be back on the block, with Independent a likely bidder if the Aussie rules on foreign ownership of newspapers and cross-ownership of newspaper and radio assets can be sorted out.

This time, the word on A.J.F.'s interest comes from Merrill Lynch, in its latest Media Weekly.