Telegraph Media Group set to be put up for sale

The Daily and Sunday Telegraph and The Spectator magazine are to be put up for sale due to debts owed by its parent group.

Lloyds Banking Group is looking to recover debts owed by the network of companies controlled by the Barclay family which includes the Telegraph.

The scale of the loans owed means that it might be challenging for Lloyds to recover the original value of the loan.

The Barclay family said the loans did not affect the newspaper operations.

A spokesperson for the Barclays said: "The loans in question are related to the family's overarching ownership structure of its Media Assets. They do not, in any way, affect the operations or financial stability of Telegraph Media Group."

The statement said businesses within its portfolio continued to trade strongly and the Telegraph was performing "extremely well".

Analysts estimate the titles to be worth around £500m.

Lloyds Banking Group is understood to have appointed AlixPartners as the official receiver to sell assets to repay debts owed by the network of holding companies that ultimately controls the national newspapers and the Spectator magazine on behalf of the Barclay family.

David and Frederick Barclay bought the Telegraph Media Group (TMG), the parent of the newspapers, in a £665m sale in 2004.

Alix Partners and Lloyds Banking Group both declined to comment.