The owner of exclusive London store Harrods, Mr Mohamed al Fayed, is preparing a bid for the Daily Telegraph and Sunday Telegraph newspapers, according to weekend media reports.
The Observer said Mr Al Fayed was assembling a team of senior newspaper executives to work on an offer and was believed to have contacted Lazards, the investment bank hired by Hollinger International - the parent company of the Telegraph titles - to carry out a strategic review.
Representatives for Mr Al Fayed could not be reached for comment.
The Telegraph titles have been valued by analysts at about €450 million.
A number of media groups have already been named as likely suitors, including the Daily Mail & General Trust, Express Newspapers, Sir Anthony O'Reilly's Independent News & Media, the Barclay Brothers, the Washington Post Company and the New York Times.
Some have even suggested that if Mr Rupert Murdoch's News International could find some way around competition rules, it might be interested in acquiring the titles.
Mr Dan Colson, vice-chairman and chief operating officer of Hollinger International, said anyone could approach Lazards, but there was no guarantee the Telegraph would be sold.
Hollinger International is in the midst of a probe into unauthorised payouts to former chief executive Lord Conrad Black.
Mr Colson dismissed as inaccurate and "ludicrous" a report in Saturday's Financial Times that Lord Black had received more than £54 million sterling in dividends last year from the Telegraph Group. - (Reuters)
