According to a report in The Times this morning, the investment bank Lazard Brothers, which has handled the long-running auction for the Telegraph Group, has told the billionaire Barclay brothers and venture capital group 3i that the winning bid will be publicly revealed on Tuesday, following a New York board meeting tonight.
However, the prospect still remains that Lord Black of Crossharbour will attempt to block any deal. It was reported last week that Lord Black was demanding that the board of the group's parent company, Hollinger International, seek shareholder approval before proceeding with the sale.
He said he wants a shareholder vote to approve any sale proposed by the Hollinger International board. However, he is exempt from making any decisions at Hollinger International following the earlier scandal.
The Barclay brothers are being tipped to win the race because their bid comes with fewer financial hurdles. The billionaire brothers also have the advantage that unlike 3i, which is advised by former Mirror Group chief executive David Montgomery, they do not answer to any board of directors or shareholder groups.
The final waiting game for the last two bidders comes after an exhaustive bidding process that has seen as many as 10 declare an interest in buying the UK's top-selling broadsheet newspaper.
Last week, the Daily Mail & General Trust and its partner CVC Capital Partners, which owns Debenhams and Kwik-Fit, dropped out of the running.
It is understood to have underbid, but if successful it would have faced stiff opposition from the government, which was hostile to the owner of the Daily Mail-winning control of the Daily and Sunday Telegraph titles.
If the Barclay brothers are successful the acquisition will turn them from regional newspaper owners, through their control of The Scotsman Group, to press barons.
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