By Iain Withers
LONDON (Reuters) – Lloyds’ CEO Charlie Nunn said the bank would not rush into a sale of the Telegraph newspapers on Wednesday, after the lender’s shock move to take control of the politically influential publications last month.
Lloyds seized control of the parent company of the Daily and Sunday Telegraph and political magazine The Spectator after a long-running dispute with their former owners the Barclay family over debts secured against the businesses. The debts run to more than 1 billion pounds, according to media reports.
The bank has appointed receivers at Alix Partners to prepare the businesses for sale, a process expected to face close regulatory and competition scrutiny with the prospect of an election in Britain next year.
“The good news from our perspective is the Telegraph and the Spectator are well-performing businesses, there’s no need to have a rushed sales process here,” Nunn told reporters after the bank reported half-year results.
Nunn said the titles were being managed independently from Lloyds and the lender was not involved in decision-making around the sales process, adding he was unconcerned if the sale did not take place before an election.
Some senior Conservatives have publicly warned Lloyds to conduct a sale quickly and transparently, the Telegraph has reported.
“My expectation, for what it’s worth, is there’ll be a lot of interest in the Telegraph and it’s a process that will run relatively quickly, but I don’t have any concerns, because I have no oversight,” Nunn said.
“That’s absolutely right given my role and obviously the important role the Telegraph plays in UK society.”
Telegraph Media Group on Tuesday posted a rise in subscriptions and profit in 2022 and said it was on track to meet its target of 1 million subscribers by the end of the year, boosted by the takeover of Chelsea Magazine Company in March.
Nunn said that the parent company’s debts had been in remediation for more than 10 years, pre-dating his arrival at the bank, and he had believed it was the “right time” to take action to try to recover value for shareholders.
Alix Partners and Telegraph Media Group declined to comment.
(Reporting by Iain Withers; Editing by Jan Harvey)
