An American publisher has made a surprise entry into the race to buy The Daily Telegraph in the final stages of the auction for the newspaper.

The owner of The New York Sun, a right-leaning American news website, has expressed interest in taking over the broadsheet and its sister title The Sunday Telegraph.

Dovid Efune is bidding after securing financial backing from the investment firms Oaktree and Hudson Bay Capital, and the family office of Michael Lefell, a hedge fund manager, according to Sky News which first reported the bid.

Efune, who has owned the Manhattan-based Sun since 2021, made a presentation to Telegraph management on Wednesday and has been asked to submit a second-round offer at the end of the month, with the deadline for formal bids set for September 27.

The former Telegraph owner Lord Black of Crossharbour is a columnist and founding director of The New York Sun, according to its website. It was reported on Thursday that Black “still loves” the newspaper and may have been sounded out about the prospects of Efune’s bid.

Sir Frederick and the late Sir David Barclay gained control of The Telegraph with the acquisition of a stake in Black’s publishing group Hollinger in 2004.

The Barclay family has now lost control of the newspaper owing to a long-running dispute with Lloyds Bank over outstanding debts of £1.2 billion.

Efune is bidding for The Telegraph after politicians blocked a takeover of the newspaper by RedBird IMI, an Abu Dhabi-backed firm. RedBird’s deal attracted criticism because it was part-funded by Sheikh Mansour bin Zayed bin Sultan al-Nahyan, the vice-president and deputy prime minister of the United Arab Emirates.

Efune joins other bidders including the hedge fund tycoon and GB News owner Sir Paul Marshall, and National World, a local newspaper group run by David Montgomery.

Redbird, which sold The Spectator magazine to Marshall for £100 million as part of the auction this week, is seeking to recoup at least £500 million from the sale of the newspaper.

In an email to Telegraph staff on Thursday, Anna Jones, the chief executive of Telegraph Media Group, updated staff on the process.

“After the initial receivership in June last year, the sale of The Spectator was run as an independent process to our own,” Jones said. “Both processes have been overseen by RedBird IMI and their external advisers.

“In terms of the TMG sale, myself and some of the executive team have recently met with prospective bidders for the business including National World and a US consortium to give a management presentation which outlines our editorial, financial and commercial position.

“The process continues, and we understand there are other bidders involved in the process that have not yet been disclosed. For now, we do not know how long the next stage will take, but I will update you once I have more information.”

The New York Sun has been contacted for comment.