Media mogul Conrad Black reportedly set to back US bid for The Telegraph

Lord Conrad Black, the media tycoon who owned The Daily Telegraph for nearly two decades, may be set to return to the British broadsheet.

Black has been floated as a potential backer of a bid for The Telegraph, led by Dovid Efune, owner of The New York Sun, according to Sky News.

One insider suggested Black, who is a founding director and contributing editor of The New York Sun, “still loves” The Telegraph and has been approached by Efune about the bid.

It comes as The Spectator, part of the Telegraph Media Group (TMG), was sold to hedge fund billionaire Sir Paul Marshall’s Old Queen Street (OQS) Media for £100m earlier this week.

Both The Spectator and The Telegraph were put on the auction block last year after Lloyds Banking Group seized them from the Barclay family, who defaulted on a £1bn loan. 

Redbird IMI, an Abu Dhabi-backed fund currently holding the titles, said a “competitive” bidding process is underway for the unsold paper, after the UK government blocked its ownership due to national security concerns.

The auction has reportedly drawn significant interest from international bidders.

Black, who once presided over a global media empire through Hollinger International, including The Daily Telegraph, The Jerusalem Post and the Chicago Sun-Times, first acquired a stake in The Telegraph in 1985, eventually taking full control.

In 2004, Black fought fiercely to retain ownership of the paper but was thwarted in his efforts to block the Barclay brothers’ £665m takeover. He has ceased to be a member of the House of Lords due to non-attendance but still holds his title as The Lord Black of Crossharbour. 

Redbird IMI declined to comment. Efune has been approached for comment and Black could not immediately be reached.