Hollinger Inc., a Toronto holding company once controlled by indicted publisher Conrad Black, has asked a federal judge for permission to sue Chicago-based Hollinger International Inc. for allegedly stripping it of assets during the 1990s.
Hollinger Inc. claims Black engineered the transfer of some of its assets, including London’s Daily Telegraph, to Hollinger International for less than market value, according to a filing Thursday in U.S. District Court in Chicago.
Hollinger Inc. says it owns a 17 percent stake in Hollinger International, which owns the Chicago Sun-Times.
In 2004, Hollinger International sued Hollinger Inc., Black, his privately owned Ravelston Corp. and five other people, accusing them of using the holding company and Ravelston as conduits for transferring assets from Hollinger International.
Thursday’s counterclaim must be approved by U.S. District Judge Blanche Manning.
“Long before International experienced the ill effects it alleges in its claim, International benefited significantly from its illegal actions directed against Hollinger,” said Randall Benson, Hollinger Inc.’s chief restructuring officer.
Gordon Paris, Hollinger International’s chief executive, responded by saying that Hollinger Inc.’s claim is “factually implausible and legally without merit.”
Hollinger Inc. “is grasping at straws” to distract attention from its “participation in the looting of the company,” Paris said.
Black led Hollinger International for eight years before being forced out as CEO in November 2003. In November 2004, he relinquished his position as chairman and CEO of Hollinger Inc.
He faces 12 charges of racketeering, money laundering, wire fraud and obstruction of justice.
In May, Hollinger Inc. agreed to cooperate with federal prosecutors who claimed Black and his associates pilfered $92 million from Hollinger International by filtering it through Ravelston and other companies.
Last month, Hollinger International shareholders voted to change the company’s name to Sun-Times Media Group. The change will take effect this month.
