The Barclay twins believe their bid to take over Conrad Black’s press empire is ”a done deal” and certain to gain regulatory approval, though there are conditions attached to their offer, a published report said on Tuesday.
”There will be no regulatory problem, none at all. It’s a formality,” The Guardian quoted Sir David Barclay as saying in an interview at the brothers’ castle on the Channel Island of Brecqhou.
Barclay and his twin, Sir Frederick Barclay, this weekend announced their plan to buy a controlling interest in Hollinger, the Toronto-based parent company of newspaper publisher Hollinger International which owns London’s Daily Telegraph, the Chicago Sun-Times and the Jerusalem Post.
Hollinger said Saturday it had fired Black as chairman and was suing him for more than $200-million it alleges was improperly diverted to him, an associate and entities he controls.
If the Barclays’ $466-million deal clears regulatory approval, the brothers will expand media holdings that already include The Scotsman, an Edinburgh, Scotland-based daily, and The Business, a struggling weekly.
”It’s a done deal,” David Barclay was quoted as saying.
”This may look like a cheap price. But this purchase is not without risks. No public company could have transacted with Black without open-ended indemnities he couldn’t have afforded to give,” The Guardian quoted David Barclay as saying. ”But we can take that risk. We were the only game in town for Black”.
Barclay was quoted as saying the brothers attached few conditions to their offer.
”The conditions are that we pass the regulators and that under Canadian law we have to tender an offer to the other shareholders open for 35 days. If during that 35 days there is a ‘material change,’ we can call it off,” he said. – Sapa-AP