It is believed that DMGT will make an offer of around £500m. Apax Partners and Candover, the private equity groups, and Collins Stewart, the City stockbroker, also plan to lodge bids for the company, which publishes The Daily Telegraph, The Sunday Telegraph and The Spectator magazine.
The latest offers also face stiff competition from Daily Express owner, Richard Desmond, who yesterday made a bid in the region of £450m to £500m.
The Barclay brothers present another challenge. Their Press Holdings vehicle has also agreed a £260m takeover of Telegraph Group's ultimate owner Hollinger Inc through ousted chief executive Lord Black of Crossharbour.
West Ferry Printers, jointly owned by Desmond's Express Newspapers and the Telegraph Group, is also said to be an important bargaining tool in the deal. The company prints the Telegraph and Express, as well as the Financial Times and The Guardian.
Desmond recently moved to buy all of West Ferry. According to reports in The Times, Desmond could use the plant as a bargaining tool in the auctioning process or extract a higher fee from the new owners of the Telegraph. He has hinted that if he fails to buy the paper, its owners will need new printing arrangements.
A spokesman for Desmond said yesterday that the publisher had 42 days to remove the Hollinger directors from the West Ferry board, but he said this could only happen if a court decides whether there has been a change of control at Hollinger.
The court hearing is due to last until February 20 with a verdict expected on February 27.
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