News has learned that The Spectator is up for bid, and Sir Paul, the co-founder of Marshall Wace, is leading the competition, along with the Daily and Sunday Telegraph newspapers.
As early as this month, a deal to purchase the magazine might be reached by the City financier’s Old Queen Street Ventures vehicle, according to people familiar with the proceedings.
An acquisition of The Spectator, which was founded in 1828, would separate it from the concurrent search for new owners of the right-leaning Telegraph publications.
Insiders added that while there has been increasing uncertainty in recent weeks on whether Sir Paul will take part in the newspaper auction, a purchase by The Spectator would not automatically disqualify him from the Telegraph sale.
The collapse of an agreement that would have given management of the media assets to RedBird IMI, an organization supported by state money from Abu Dhabi, has cast doubt on what would happen to them.
The takeover fell through when the government stepped in to prevent foreign governments from using their funds to purchase national newspapers.
