by Jamie Doward and Jessica Hodgson
The Observer - UK
11-22-2003
from
Rense Website
A powerful banking group with close
links to the Pentagon, which has also invested money on behalf of
the Bin Laden family, is in talks to bail out beleaguered Daily
Telegraph owner Conrad Black.
The revelation suggests that Britain's bestselling broadsheet -
coveted by rival newspaper barons because of its political influence
- may not go under the hammer after all, as Lord Black tries to
quell a shareholder rebellion in the face of allegations that he and
several acolytes pocketed millions of dollars that was not theirs to
take.
Daily Express owner Richard Desmond and the Daily Mail & General
Trust, which owns the Daily Mail, are keen to buy the Telegraph
titles, despite the fact that questions over the concentration of
media ownership would be raised.
The Carlyle Group, known as the Ex-Presidents Club because of the
number of former world leaders it employs, is considering taking a
stake in Hollinger International, which owns the Telegraph titles,
the Jerusalem Post and the Chicago Sun-Times, according to those
close to the firm.
'It's unusual for a group of assets
to come to the market like this. We would look to sell off the
Jerusalem Post and Hollinger's stake in the New York Sun. Conrad
[Black] would have to step out of management, but that does not
mean he would have to let go of his equity stake,' said a
Carlyle source. 'Ideally, we would look to take a 25-40 per cent
stake. That would allow us to put people on the board,' the
source added.
The move would represent a coup for
Black, who is desperate not to sell the Telegraph titles, which have
given him considerable influence within British politics and earned
him a close friendship with Margaret Thatcher.
Carlyle - which employs former Prime Minister John Major as a
director, boasts George Bush Snr and his Secretary of State,
James
Baker, as advisers, and is headed by Frank Carlucci, Ronald Reagan's
Defense Secretary - has invested in media firms previously. The
group once owned 40 per cent of France's Le Figaro, and more
recently acquired part of French conglomerate Vivendi's publishing
assets.
It also part-owns Qinetiq, the Government's privatized defense
research laboratories, and CSX Lines, a logistics firm that
specializes in shipping heavy equipment for the military. In the
past, Carlyle has owned Vinnell, a company that trained the Saudi
army.
If Carlyle - which, despite being only 15 years old, manages more
than $14 billion in funds on behalf of investors such as George Soros and the Bin Laden family (who are estranged from their son
Osama) - does take a stake in Hollinger, questions are bound to be
asked over the links between the two firms, both of which have
powerful links to the military.
Leading foreign policy hawks Richard Perle and Henry Kissinger sit
on the Hollinger board. Black himself is a member of the secretive
Bilderberg group, an organization comprising the world's leading
businessmen and politicians, which some have accused of being an
alternative world government.
In a separate move, it has emerged that Wall Street fund manager
Tweedy Browne will take legal action against the Hollinger board if
it is not satisfied with the company's actions.
Shareholders are angry that tens of millions of dollars that Black
and fellow directors took in 'non-compete' fees did not go to
Hollinger.
'I want to know how this board came
to pay out a red cent to these people,' said Tweedy Browne
analyst Laura Jeresky.
Hollinger is the subject of an inquiry
by the US Securities and Exchange Commission. Investigators are keen
to understand the company's relationship with Ravelston Corporation,
which is privately owned by Black and has been the beneficiary of
millions of dollars which shareholders say should be returned to
them.
Toronto-based Ravelston pays millions of dollars in management fees
to Ravelston Management Inc (RMI). There are suggestions that RMI
may be based in a tax haven. Hollinger spokesman Paul Healy declined
to comment.
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