Lloyds Banking Group has taken ­control of the Telegraph Media Group (TMG) in an unprecedented move by a bank in modern times, the Telegraph itself reported on Thursday, June 8.

The lender has appointed receivers to manage the group while investment bankers run an auction which is expected to draw interest from rivals, wealthy individuals and funds potentially linked to Gulf states, the newspaper said.

Aidan Barclay, the son of Sir David and Zoe Newton, has been removed from the board, as has his brother, Howard. Sir David Barclay, one of the Barclay twins, died on January 10, 2021. Sir David and Sir Frederick Barclay had at one time owned property on ave Grande Bretagne as well as other buildings in Monaco as well as the Ritz in London. The brothers fell out spectacularly several years before Sir David’s death, aged 86.

Lloyds has been in dispute with the Barclay family, who have owned The Daily Telegraph since 2004, over debts to its Bank of Scotland subsidiary, allegedly approaching £1 billion, which were secured against the publisher.

In a day of fast-moving developments, Lloyds seized a Bermuda-based entity in the Barclay family business which is a parent company to The Telegraph and The Spectator magazine, the Telegraph said.

The receivers also confirmed that the publisher is not entering administration and is in good financial health.

The Telegraph was a major advocate of Brexit and of Boris Johnson, at one time a Telegraph columnist, and a supreme irony is that a European publishing house, such as Springer, may succeed in taking it over.

The Daily Telegraph is a much-favoured publication among anglophones living in Monaco.

PHOTO: Aidan and Howard Barclay, and Andrew Neil, journalist and broadcaster, who recently acquired a property in Larvotto. ALAMY

RELATED ARTICLE (more than 3 years old): https://www.tortoisemedia.com/2020/03/02/barclays-1-end-of-empire/