According to reports, Glover, founder of The Independent and columnist for The Daily Mail and The Spectator, is planning to approach the private equity bidders who lost out in the race for the Telegraph Group.
However, these groups, including 3i and Collins Stewart, declined the approach for backing three months ago. According to the Daily Telegraph, Glover has appointed investment firm, Cardona Lloyd, to assist him with fundraising efforts.
Earlier this year, Glover claimed to have raised £2m for the title that is tentatively being called The World and is seeking a further £16m to launch the title.
Insiders claim that private equity groups 3i, Candover and Cinven, as well as stockbroker Collins Stewart and German media firm Axel Springer, will not support the project.
The position of Express Newspaper owner Richard Desmond and the Daily Mail & General Trust is unclear, as is that of private equity groups Apax and CVC, which were all in the running for the Telegraph Group.
A spokesperson of Axel Springer told the Telegraph that their position had not changed either and that Cinven and Candover were unlikely to invest, as they do not back start-up companies.
Andrew Neil, editor–in-chief of The Scotsman and struggling title The Business, both owned by the Telegraph's new bosses the Barclay Brothers, told the paper that anyone launching a newspaper in the current market on a budget of £15m is "on another planet".
News of the launch of The World broke in February this year. It is aiming for a circulation of 100,000 and wants to be similar in format to the recent compact launches of The Independent and The Times. Glover argues that quality broadsheets like The Daily Telegraph and The Times have turned off upmarket readers with too many consumer and celebrity stories.
Some analysts have suggested that the market is already too overcrowded. However, Glover, along with Andreas Whittam Smith and Matthew Symonds, raised a similar sum, £18m, almost 20 years ago in 1986 to launch The Independent.
If you have an opinion on this or any other issue raised on Brand Republic, join the debate in the .
_1.jpg)
.jpg)
