
Other bidders include Richard Desmond's Northern & Shell, Viscount Rothmere's Daily Mail & General Trust and venture capital firms Candover Investments and Apax Partners.
Merchant bank Lazards, which is holding the auction on behalf of the Hollinger International board, would not disclose how many bids have been received in total. Some are believed to be as high as £500m.
The Barclay brothers, who own The Business and several Scottish newspapers, have already signed a £260m takeover deal for the Telegraph titles, which include The Daily and Sunday Telegraph and The Spectator. However the deal with Hollinger Inc -- controlled by Lord Conrad Black -- is being challenged by Hollinger International.
The bids by DMGT and Northern & Shell will both likely come under close regulatory scrutiny.
Many of the big US groups have expressed an interest in Hollinger's North-American assets, which include the Chicago Sun-Times, with The Washington Post Group and The New York Times Company expected to bid.
If you have an opinion on this or any other issue raised on Brand Republic, join the debate in the .