LONDON (AFP) - Hollinger International has extended an olive branch to its former ousted boss Conrad Black by offering him proceeds from its sale of two leading British newspapers, according to a report.
Black could reap more than 100 million dollars (79 million euros) from Hollinger's recent sale of the Daily and Sunday Telegraph titles under a compromise agreement, The Guardian newspaper said.
Black, accused by Hollinger of looting the group of 380.6 million dollars, is himself seeking 110 million Canadian dollars in damages from the group on account of libel and slander.
Under the terms of the reported compromise deal, Hollinger would redistribute a proportion of the 1.3 billion-dollar proceeds from the sale of the Telegraph newspapers to all of its shareholders, including Black.
In return Black, who despite being stripped of his leadership role earlier this year maintains a 68-percent voting share and 18.2-percent equity holding in US-based Hollinger, would not sell his controlling stake until January 31 at the earliest, The Guardian said.
"We are pleased that (Hollinger) International has agreed not to block... Conrad Black's fair share of any funds distributed to International shareholders," the paper quoted a spokesman of Black saying.
Hollinger's executives are trying to restructure the media group and pay down its debts while locked in the high profile feud with Black, who they want to prevent from a having a say in the group's future.
The company said earlier this month that it was unable to move to distribute the proceeds from the sale of the Telegraph Group until it filed its 2003 and 2004 financial statements to the US Securities and Exchange Commission.
Hollinger International sold the Telegraph titles in July to Britain's Barclay twins in a cash deal.
The Telegraph titles were put up for sale by Hollinger International following the start of the increasingly bitter dispute between the company and Black, who renounced his Canadian citizenship in 2001 to become a member of Britain's upper chamber of parliament, the House of Lords.
10/28/2004 - 12:53 GMT - AFP