Black, chairman of Daily Telegraph publisher Hollinger International, sold the other half of the Toronto-based daily to CanWest late last year when he offloaded the bulk of his Canadian publishing empire in a deal reportedly worth £1.45bn.
At the time of the deal, the companies agreed that one would be able to buy the other out within five years. It is said that Black initially aimed to reclaim the Post after this period.
However, Black admitted yesterday that Hollinger could not run the title without the printing and delivery services that belong to the Southam group of newspapers, which it sold as part of its agreement with CanWest last year.
Black said, "If we'd tried to carry on alone we would have had real problems." Since Black's agreement with CanWest last year, Hollinger has continued to control operations at the National Post.
Leonard Asper, CanWest chief executive, is quoted in the National Post as saying, "It was difficult to include the Post in convergence efforts with CanWest's TV stations in Toronto without full ownership of the newspaper."
CanWest will assume a more active role in the Post's management with immediate effect, despite the fact that deal will not be finalised until March 31.