MEDIA STUDIES
Reclusive brothers consign to dust their dreams of a vast empire
STEPHEN GLOVER
All that has changed. Last week I sug- gested that the Barclays were no longer sure-fire bidders for the Express newspa- pers when, or if, they come on to the mar- ket. Now I have learnt that the brothers have recently received one, possibly two, bids for their newspapers. Though the offi- cial line is that they are not interested, it seems that the Barclays are more likely sell- ers than buyers, and that all dreams of own- ing a vast media empire have been con- signed to dust.
The first bid came from Trinity Mirror, owner of the Mirror titles, about two weeks ago, and was made via S.G. Warburg mer- chant bank. As it happens, Warburg acts for Trinity Mirror as well as for the Bar- clays. One of the bank's most senior invest- ment bankers is an old friend of Aidan Bar- clay, son of David, and he brought the two companies together. It is Aidan who runs his father's and his uncle's media and other interests. According to a friend, he had been mightily impressed when the Belfast Telegraph was recently sold for some £300 million. Trinity Mirror's bid for the Bar- clays' four newspapers (the Scotsman, Scot- land on Sunday, the Edinburgh Evening News and Sunday Business) was between £250 and £300 million. Given that the profits of the Scottish papers are about £11 million a year, and that Sunday Business is not yet making any money, this was a mouth-water- ing offer. Trinity Mirror's idea was to keep the Scottish titles but sell on Sunday Busi- ness, for which there are thought to be sev- eral potential suitors. The bid was rejected by Aidan Barclay, though not in any rough way.
I telephoned Andrew Neil, chief execu- tive of Press Holdings, which is the name of the Barclay brothers' media group, to ask him about all this. He said that he had not been involved in any talks with Trinity Mir- ror but did not deny that they had taken place. I pressed him about a second bid, allegedly made to the Barclays in the last ten days by a Scottish multi-millionaire called David Murray. Mr Murray is the majority shareholder in Rangers football club, a steel baron, and the erstwhile owner of Sunday Scot, a tabloid launched in 1991 that quickly failed. Mr Neil strenuously denied that Mr Murray had made an approach to Press Holdings, and claimed that he had been told by Aidan Barclay only half an hour before that no such offer had been received. He suggested that the story of the bid was put about by disgrun- tled hacks whom he has recently sacked from the Scotsman. He also speculated that Mr Murray was not rich enough to buy Press Holdings. (This may not be true. The Sunday Times recently estimated his per- sonal wealth at £300 million, and suggested that he is the 85th richest man in Britain.) I have been unable to contact Mr Murray to get his side of the story.
Even if the Murray bid has been dreamt up by victims of Mr Neil's slash-and-burn policies at the Scotsman, it is undeniable that Aidan Barclay entertained an offer from Trinity Mirror. He didn't have to talk. According to a senior executive at Press Holdings, Aidan Barclay is by no means as enamoured of• the four newspapers as are (or were?) Frederick and David. He is also said to have been dismayed by the bad pub- licity surrounding the ructions at the Scots- man. With his uncle and father virtually in semi-retirement, Aidan is the man who will increasingly call the shots at Press Hold- ings. The same senior executive speculates that he will fatten up the newspapers a lit- tle, squeeze out a few costs, and then sell them for an even higher price than Trinity Mirror has offered. No businessman, he observes, ever accepts the first offer that comes along. However, Mr Neil denies that the papers are, or will be, for sale: 'We are having too much fun.'
To say that the Barclay brothers' newspa- pers are in play might be putting it a bit strong. But I think it likely that they will be sold in the foreseeable future. It is certain that plans for expansion have been shelved, probably permanently. This means that the Barclays won't buy the Daily and Sunday Express, currently owned by United News and Media. These papers are more obvi- ously in the shop window than they were a week ago. As a result of the government's announcement of a virtual free-for-all, it looks increasingly likely that Granada will swoop on United or Carlton Communica- tions. If Granada gets United, it will sell the Express titles; if it merges with, or acquires, Carlton, United would be left so weakened and isolated that it would almost be bound to put the struggling Express titles up for sale. But they won't go to Frederick and David Barclay. Their dreams of empire are over.
Five weeks ago I wrote about Tory columnists who had previously mocked William Hague and were beginning to see the point of him as his stock rises. As far as I could see, Janet Daley of the Daily Telegraph was the only right-wing colum- nist who had stuck with Mr Hague through thick and thin since his election as leader in July 1997, though even she had a little wobble once. It was then brought to my notice that Simon Jenkins of the Times had written at a relatively early stage that Mr Hague was something more than a third-rate loser, though he never expressed such warm feelings for the Tory leader as Mrs Daley.
No other representations from Tory columnists have yet been received. But there have been two surprising entries from the Left to add to the shining example of Andrew Marr, whom I mentioned in my original piece. The first was made on behalf of Peter Preston (no, not by his son Ben) who wrote on 6 October 1997 in the Guardian: 'The man most likely to be the next (or next but one) prime minister of Great Britain is called William Hague.' Not bad. Several entries have also been submit- ted by Janet Street-Porter, editor of the Independent on Sunday, on behalf of the Independent's columnist Ann McElvoy. The submissions are of more recent vintage than Mr Preston's. On 7 October 1998 Ms McElvoy wrote a generous piece about Mr Hague, describing him as 'an eloquent defender of the free market' and 'admirably libertarian' and 'a true meritocrat'. He had `a message worth hearing'.
Other bona fide entries for the Hague Challenge Cup are earnestly sought.
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