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In place of the eccentric, high-profile Lord Black (and that's putting it very politely), there will be owners who last talked to the press sometime in the 80s and are serious businessmen.

Sir Frederick and Sir David have no track record of interfering in editorial matters and, rather like the late Lord Thomson, appear to have little interest in such matters.

Yet their interest in newspapers seems to be of a different nature from their involvement over the years in everything from property and shipping to brewing, hotels and retail. They funded The European long after any sane investor would have pulled the plug; they just seemed to like reading the publication as they spent their time as tax exiles in Monaco. They have also given Andrew Neil a lot of rope at The Business long after a cold-eyed businessman would have cut its throat. The ownership of The Scotsman and Scotland on Sunday, meanwhile, seems to have been an even more sentimental purchase because their parents came from Scotland.

It all adds up to many millions 'wasted' on newspapers, even though it would not make much of a dent in their estimated fortune of £650m. This may turn out to be a considerable underestimation given their revelation that gross earnings from their businesses are running at about £3.9bn a year.

The good news is that the brothers have demonstrated a willingness to invest in newspapers and winning control of the Telegraph Group may persuade them to make serious investments in Hollinger International.

A senior role for Jeff Randall, the former editor of Sunday Business, would also appear very likely. The real question is whether this irrevocable deal sticks.

The majority equity shareholders of Hollinger International are likely to go berserk when they take in the full implications of what has happened to them.

By doing a side-deal with the Barclays and disrupting an orderly international auction for the Hollinger International papers, Lord Black has shafted his shareholders one last time, for old times' sake.

Naturally the very act of removing himself will drive up the Hollinger share price. But there are not many people who believe that £260m is a fair price for winning control of The Daily Telegraph, The Sunday Telegraph, the Chicago Sun-Times and associated weeklies. At the very least, there will be a blizzard of writs, injunctions and lawsuits. Even as the deal was being done, the Hollinger International board launched a £112m suit against Lord Black and Hollinger Inc, the holding company that the Barclays are buying into. It may, however, prove impossible to un-pick the deal.

It is certainly a very courageous move by the Barclay brothers and one that could ultimately cost them a great deal more than the down payment of £260m.