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The ruling may now bring an end to the long-running saga and pave the way for the Telegraph Group sale to be finalised today, although unrelenting, Lord Black says he will appeal Judge Leo Strine's decision.

"We regret Vice Chancellor Strine's decision not to uphold the rights of Hollinger International's shareholders to evaluate the proposed sale of the company's UK assets. Hollinger Inc's...have decided to pursue an appeal of the ruling, and Hollinger Inc.'s legal counsel filed such an appeal this evening," Hollinger Inc said in a statement.

The decision to back the sale marks the second time that the judge has come down in favour of Hollinger International. Five months ago, Strine blocked an attempt by Lord Black to sell control of Hollinger International to the Barclay brothers. However, since Hollinger International agreed to sell the Telegraph Group to the billionaire brothers for £665m, Lord Black and Hollinger Inc asked Strine to give Hollinger International shareholders veto power over the deal.

In a 93-page ruling, Strine undermined Lord Black's argument that the Telegraph Group sale was not done after a proper review, and that therefore it should be subject to a shareholder vote. The judge said that Hollinger International had sought to get the best price and had received competitive bids.

The judge said that after the Telegraph Group sale, Hollinger International shareholders "will remain investors in a publication company with profitable operating assets, a well-regarded tabloid newspaper of good reputation [the Chicago Sun–Times] and large circulation, a prestigious newspaper in Israel [the Jerusalem Post]".

Lord Black was ousted as chief executive of Hollinger International in November last year over a dispute about unauthorised payments he and other senior executives collected from the company.

His holding company, Hollinger Inc, owns about 68% of Hollinger International's voting rights. It said that it was disappointed with Strine's decision.

Separately, Hollinger International said today that it had hired an outside accounting firm to assist in its probe into inflated circulation data for The Chicago Sun-Times.

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