THE reclusive multi-millionaire Barclay brothers were poised last night to take control of the Daily and Sunday Telegraph newspapers. Sir David and Sir Frederick Barclay, twins who own the Ritz hotel and the Littlewoods retail group, were in advanced talks with Conrad Black, the beleaguered owner.

The Barclay brothers and Lord Black were hoping to announce a deal today, but people involved in the discussions warned last night the talks were delicately poised and could still fall apart. “We had wanted to keep these talks secret right until the end, and now the cat is out of the bag there is no knowing what the brothers will do,” a person involved in the talks said last night.

If successfully completed, the deal would see the Barclays taking control of the Telegraph group, The Spectator magazine, the Chicago Times group of newspapers and Israel’s Jerusalem Post.

Black, a Tory peer, is in dire financial difficulties and is facing an investigation from America’s regulatory body the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). He is likely to receive a cash payment from the Barclays of about £110m with the brothers agreeing to pick up outstanding debts of about the same amount.

The twins will buy the approximate 78% stake Black’s master company Ravelston owns in Hollinger Inc, a Canadian company. This will trigger a takeover offer for Hollinger Inc, which controls Hollinger International, owner of the Telegraph group. An earlier option for the Barclays to simply buy Ravelston has been scrapped.

Black will be able to use the cash to repay the sums he owes to Hollinger International, but the Barclays will become responsible for the loans Hollinger Inc has to repay.

Through buying Ravelston’s controlling stake in Hollinger Inc, the Barclays hope to gain management control over all of the media assets owned by that company and Hollinger International.

Despite the talks, the Barclays will still have to satisfy disgruntled investors, some of whom have filed lawsuits demanding compensation.Black and his wife Barbara Amiel have enjoyed a lavish lifestyle. They have four homes, a mansion in Toronto, a home in Kensington, London, an apartment worth £1.9m on New York’s Park Avenue and a home in Florida. When Vanity Fair visited their Kensington home two years ago its reporter was stunned by Amiel’s luxurious wardrobe and her boast of an “extravagance that knows no bounds”.

The Barclays already own four newspaper titles: The Scotsman, Scotland on Sunday, the Edinburgh Evening News and The Business.

The negotiations with the Barclays have been conducted behind the back of Lazard, the investment bank that was asked by directors of Hollinger International to find potential buyers for its papers. Lazard has received more than 50 expressions of interest. Richard Desmond, owner of the Daily and Sunday Express, and Lord Rothermere, the largest shareholder in DMGT, which owns the Daily Mail and Mail on Sunday, have both said they were keen to acquire the Telegraph titles. The Barclays' acquisition of the newspapers will provide an early test for Ofcom, the newly created media regulator. The regulator will most likely probe whether the twins have sought to influence editorial policy at their newspapers.

There is also the potential of a clash between the brothers and Desmond, who owns a string of soft porn titles. His Express newspapers share a print works with the Telegraph and Desmond has hinted that any new owner would not be able to print at the plant.

Andrew Neil, editor-in-chief in the Barclays' empire, has not been included in talks to buy the group. Nor has Aidan Barclay, David's son, who normally has a hands-on role in the business affairs of the twins.

Last night there was speculation that Jeff Randall, the BBC's business editor, may be under consideration to edit the Daily Telegraph. The brothers were known to be impressed with Randall when he launched and edited their Sunday Business title, later The Business.

Black was this weekend in his Toronto home finalising the deal. When contacted by The Sunday Times he said: "Your habit of phoning me at home is becoming inconvenient. This is a breaking story. You will just have to wait for it."

Tweedy Browne, a New-York fund manager, first targetted Black and his associates for alleged impropriety. It demanded an inquiry by the Securities and Exchange Commission into payments of almost $300m (£160m).

As news of Black's audacious plan to sell slipped out in New York there was another twist. The special committee of Hollinger International filed a $200m lawsuit targeting Black and releasing a series of embarrassing e-mails that highlight his extravagant behaviour.

One from Black to a colleague, sent in August 2002, stated: "There has not been an occasion for many months when I got on our plane without wondering whether it was really affordable. But I'm not prepared to reenact the French Revolutionary renunciation of the rights of nobility. We have to find a balance between an unfair taxation on the company and a reasonable treatment of the founder-builders-managers. We are proprietors, after all, beleaguered though we may be."

Additional reporting: Paul Durman and John O'Donnell

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