COMPANY TOWN : Group Bids for Rest of Telemundo

An investment group led by Leon Black, chairman of Telemundo Group Inc., proposed to buy the 60% of the Spanish-language U.S. television network it doesn’t already own.

Black, former head of investment banking at now-defunct Drexel Burnham Lambert Inc., did not specify a price or other details of the investment group’s proposal in a Schedule 13D filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission Wednesday.

Telemundo Chief Financial Officer Peter J. Housman II said the company is aware of the 13D filing, though he couldn’t confirm its details or comment on it.

A company news release Friday said Telemundo “has conducted, on a preliminary basis, substantive discussions regarding strategic transactions with a number of” parties it described as “entertainment concerns.” The release said the company “is hopeful that within the near future it will be in a position to make an announcement” on such a transaction.

Wednesday’s SEC filing added that Telemundo, which already had hired Lazard Freres & Co. to help find a strategic partner, has set up a special group of board members, excluding affiliates of the Black group, to consider the offer and any others it may receive.

Officials with Black’s companies, Lion Advisors and Apollo Advisors, were not available for comment.

Telemundo board member Alan Kolod, a member of the Moses & Singer law firm in New York, declined comment.

The Black group--which is joined in its proposal by unidentified investors not otherwise affiliated with the chairman--holds a 40.3% stake in the Hialeah, Fla.-based television network, the filing said.

Telemundo shares rose $1.94 to close at $38.81 on Nasdaq.