Lord Black said he was approached last month by an unnamed "investment management firm", which has been identified as Cerberus Capital Management, that was interested in buying all of Hollinger International and not just the Telegraph Group.
The £665m Barclay brothers bid revealed on Tuesday evening is just for the Telegraph Group and not the wider Hollinger International, which also includes the Chicago Sun-Times, a large number of US community newspapers and The Jerusalem Post.
According to documents filed with the US regulator, the Securities & Exchange Commission, Lord Black discussed the sale of a "substantial" equity stake in Hollinger to the US investment firm.
The SEC filing said the equity stake might lead to the investment firm making an offer to buy any and all outstanding shares of Hollinger International.
Despite the SEC documents making it clear that Cerberus has not yet come forward with a firm offer, sources close to Lord Black quoted by The Times say the mystery bid should be considered by the Hollinger International.
"This deal would be an offer for the whole of Hollinger International, not just the Telegraph. This could be a more attractive bid. It is on the table."
News of the Cerberus discussions comes as Lord Black talks of forcing a shareholder vote on the sale of the Daily Telegraph, Sunday Telegraph and The Spectator to the Barclay brothers.
When the deal was announced on Tuesday, Lord Black questioned whether it was the best deal for shareholders. He still owns a large 30% minority stake in Hollinger International through his Hollinger Inc company.
In a statement earlier this week, Lord Black said that when Hollinger International rebuffed the Barclay brothers' first bid in January it assumed an obligation to deliver greater value to shareholders.
"Its faltering strategic process has failed to do so. Allowing for currency fluctuations, this is essentially the same valuation that the Barclays put on these assets back in January," the statement said.
If you have an opinion on this or any other issue raised on Brand Republic, join the debate in the .
_1.jpg)
.jpg)
