Britain's Barclay brothers have withdrawn their offer to buy Hollinger Inc, which controls Hollinger International, the newspaper publishing group controlled by Conrad Black.
A US court ruled last Thursday against an agreement by Black to sell the group, which owns the Daily Telegraph in Britain, the Jerusalem Post and Chicago Sun-Times, to the Barclays. The decision opened the way for an auction.
Last week, a US judge in the state of Delaware prohibited Black from selling his controlling share in Hollinger International to Frederick and David Barclay.
But a ruling by Judge Leo Strine Jr. left open the possibility for the Barclays to buy the Daily Telegraph as long as it is done through the board of Hollinger International rather than Black.
Black controls 30.3% of Hollinger International and 72.6% of the voting rights. But he has fallen out with other shareholders, who accuse him of enriching himself at the expense of the group and who ousted him from the board in January.
Strine's decision favoured shareholders opposed to Black who insisted that the price of the proposed sale to the Barclay's was too low.
