Maxwell Heirs May Have to Sell Holdings : Estate: The family has reportedly been told that they can’t hold on to his business empire.

LONDON — Advisers and bankers have told the heirs of the late Robert Maxwell that they will have to sell a substantial proportion of their business empire, the Independent on Sunday newspaper reported.

The bankers told brothers Kevin and Ian Maxwell that they will be unable to keep the family’s stakes in both Mirror Group Newspapers and Maxwell Communication Corp.

The Independent on Sunday said the brothers were committed to holding and developing the family interest in Mirror Group.

The fate of the Maxwell empire has come under intense speculation since the media tycoon was found dead in the sea off the Canary Islands on Nov. 5.

The Maxwell family owns 68% of Maxwell Communication and 51% of Mirror Group.

On Nov. 24, representatives of 25 banks agreed to a temporary repayments freeze on Maxwell family debt, much of it secured by shares in Maxwell Communication.

The debt has been put at about $1.35 billion.

Elsewhere, Italian media owner Silvio Berlusconi emerged as a possible bidder for the Maxwell family’s 6% stake in Newspaper Publishing, owners of the Independent and Independent on Sunday, according to the Observer.

Also Sunday, German publishing group Gruner Jahr said it was negotiating to buy the half of publisher Berliner Verlag that is owned by Maxwell Communication.

Gruner Jahr, which already owns the other 50% of Berliner Verlag, said it had a first option to buy the Maxwell stake and wanted to continue managing the group.

Maxwell and Gruner Jahr bought Berliner Verlag from the East German Communist Party in June, 1990, just four months before German unification. The party’s assets were then frozen pending an inquiry by a parliamentary commission.

Mirror Group newspapers include the Daily Mirror, Sunday Mirror, Daily Record and The Sporting Life.

Maxwell Communication assets include the U.S. publishing house Macmillan Inc. and Official Airlines Guides.

New York’s Daily News is owned privately by the Maxwell family.