The owners of the Daily Telegraph faces administration after a breakdown in talks over loans the business has racked up over the years.
Lloyds Banking Group has come to blows with Press Acquisitions, the company controlled by the Barclay family that owns the newspapers’ parent company, Telegraph Media Group (TMG), over around £65 million in loans.
According to Times reports, the bank is prepared to call in a restructuring advisory group and appoint insolvency practitioners “within days” as the situation unravels.
Commenting on the matter, Michael Lynch, partner at city law firm DMH Stallard and insolvency expert, said: “At some point, whatever the size of the loan and whomever the name of the borrower, lenders will review their enforcement options, possibly taking action, if that borrower either fails to service its debt and/or does not engage with that lender.
“There comes a time when continued forbearance provided by a lender is no longer a viable option.”
But a spokesperson said speculation about the business entering administration is “unfounded and irresponsible,” adding that TMG is in “good financial shape”.
The Barclay brothers were caught up in the Paradise Papers leak in 2017, where they were found to have interests in Bermuda-based Reid Finance Ltd.
They were among a number of Brexiteers to have been cited in the report, with MP Jacob Rees-Mogg and Arron Banks also implicated.
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