Hollinger sells Telegraph Group for 1.3 billion dollars

[leftchick]

http://story.news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story&ncid=1504&e=6&u=/afp/20040623/bs_afp/us_canada_britain_040623102408


NEW YORK (AFP) - The media group Hollinger International said it will sell the Telegraph Group, publisher of Britain's Daily and Sunday Telegraph newspapers, to the Barclay brothers' Press Acquisitions Limited for some 1.3 billion dollars (665 million pounds).


The transaction is scheduled to close July 30, Hollinger said in a statement. The purchase price will be paid primarily in British pounds.


"We believe that the sale of the Telegraph Group at this time presents the best opportunity for us to maximize value for our shareholders," said Gordon Paris, Hollinger interim chairman and chief executive officer.


Hollinger International's newspapers were put up for sale following an increasingly bitter dispute between the company and its ousted chief executive, Conrad Black, who renounced his Canadian citizenship in 2001 to become a member of Britain's House of Lords.