Lord Saatchi hires Lazard to advise on Telegraph takeover bid | Business News

Lord Saatchi, the former advertising guru, has hired the investment bank that helped Lloyds Banking Group recover a £1 billion-plus loan to the Barclay family to advise him on the acquisition of The Daily Telegraph.

Sky News has learned that Lazard is working with Conservative peer and Lady Lynn Forester de Rothschild, former director of The Economist Group.

The recruitment of the Mayfair-based company is likely to strengthen Lord Saatchi’s position in the Telegraph bond auction, with a deadline set for indicative bids later on Friday.

Lazard worked with Lloyds for months on recovering its outstanding loans from Barclays, eventually helping the lender secure full repayment after a series of discounted offers.

In the past, the investment bank has also had close ties to the Daily Mail & General Trust, the publisher of the Daily Mail, which said last week it would not bid for the Telegraph.

Lord Saatchi has reportedly been in talks with potential backers for several weeks, although further details of his proposed bid were unclear on Friday.

Half of the advertising duo that created Saatchi & Saatchi and, later, M&C Saatchi, declined to comment when contacted by Sky News.

The auction of the Telegraph and The Spectator magazine titles was launched by RedBird IMI, the Abu Dhabi state-backed vehicle that struck a deal earlier this year to take control of the assets.

Their ambitions were thwarted, however, by government intervention amid a backlash over the prospect of a foreign state actually owning prominent national newspapers.

Earlier this week, Sky News revealed that Sir Paul Marshall, the hedge fund tycoon considered a leading candidate to buy the Telegraph, could decide not to submit an offer.

David Montgomery’s National World is likely to be among the suitors, while US-based RedBird could also bid alongside other investors.

The fate of the Telegraph, historically a staunch supporter of the Conservative Party, has been up in the air for more than a year after Lloyds Banking Group took control of its parent companies after Barclays fell behind on debt payments.

The family had owned the Telegraph for almost 20 years, but saw several of its assets face financial problems.

Barclays continues to control Very Group, the online retailer.

The Raine Group, best known in Britain for its role in recent deals involving football clubs Manchester United and Chelsea, and Robey Warshaw are advising on the auction of the media assets.

Questions remain over whether RedBird IMI can hope to recoup the £600 million it paid to acquire the call option that would have been converted into Telegraph ownership.

The newspapers and The Spectator can still be sold separately, and Rupert Murdoch will remain among those interested in buying the political magazine.

Lazard has been contacted for comment.