Barclays consider management buyout for The Business

LONDON - Loss-making Sunday broadsheet The Business could be the subject of a management buyout as owners the Barclay brothers, who recently failed to buy the Herald newspapers, look at acquiring other titles.

Entrepreneurs Sir David and Sir Frederick Barclay are believed to have been prompted to consider the title's future when it caused a stumbling block in their planned purchase of Scottish Media Group's newspaper business, which includes the The Herald and Sunday Herald.

The Barclays approached SMG in October last year, but their company, Press Holdings, would have passed the 500,000 average daily circulation limit that would have led to a competition inquiry while they still owned The Business.

"A possible management buyout of The Business has been under consideration for some time," according to a statement from confidential documents published in the Financial Times.

"It is proposed that The Business will be sold to certain members of its management team such that Press Holdings would no longer be a newspaper proprietor in relation to that title."

Speculation points to the buyout being led by fomer Sunday Times editor and Press Holdings publisher Andrew Neil.

Neil, who recently renewed his contract with Press Holdings for another three years, said recently that the company is still interested in acquisitions and is mainly interested in national and major regional titles.

He also spoke recently of his plans to launch the title in the US once the paper is on "sound financial footing".

Press Holdings also owns The Scotsman newspaper and Scotland on Sunday. A successful bid by the brothers for the Herald could have seen Scotland's two daily broadsheets merged to create one paper.

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