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Earlier this week, it was reported that there could be a possible settlement avoiding the possibility of court action as Lord Black of Crossharbour and Hollinger International held out-of-court talks.

Lord Black is suing to stop the sell-off of the Telegraph titles without his say so, after he was last week given the go-ahead to launch his action by a Delaware court.

Despite being removed as chairman and chief executive last year, Lord Black still controls the majority of Hollinger International through his holding company Hollinger Inc.

In a statement, Lord Black's holding company said it did not believe that Hollinger International should be allowed to "disenfranchise shareholders and deny them their fundamental legal rights".

"The UK assets of the company represent the substantial majority of its value and the sale of those assets therefore requires shareholder approval," the statement said.

The statement added that Hollinger Inc had not made a final decision on the desirability of the sale to the Barclay brothers because it had not been provided with all of the necessary information, including details regarding the transaction and possible alternatives.

The legal bid is being seen as part of a tit-for-tat battle by Lord Black who faces a $1.25bn racketeering charge brought against him by Hollinger International.

As well as the $1.25bn Hollinger suit, Lord Black has two of his own -- one alleging Hollinger International had libelled him, and a second seeking about $10m in unpaid fees for management services and $300m in damages because of Hollinger International's termination of his contract.

When the sale of the Telegraph was announced, Lord Black issued a statement deriding it, saying that Hollinger International had failed to deliver greater value to shareholders through its "faltering strategic process".

If Lord Black wins his case, the whole process of selling the Telegraph Group could be reset because he would effectively have a veto over any buyer of the Daily and Sunday Telegraph titles.

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