Nadhim Zahawi, the former Conservative chancellor, is putting together a £600 million bid for Telegraph Media Group.
The former politician, who has links with the former owners of The Daily Telegraph and The Sunday Telegraph, has been sounding out billionaire backers for the offer, according to Sky News, which first reported the fledgling plans.
Zahawi, 57, is close to the Barclay family, who controlled the Telegraph newspapers for 20 years until Lloyds Banking Group put the holding company into receivership in June last year, acting after the breakdown of talks with the family about the repayment of £1.2 billion of overdue loans.
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An auction process started last year was put on ice after RedBird IMI, an