Standard's Russian owner eyes Independent
Evening Standard owner Alexander Lebedev 'in talks' to buy Independent and Independent and Independent on Sunday
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Thursday, 11, Jun 2009 02:42
Evening Standard owner Alexander Lebedev is reportedly close to securing the purchase of the Independent and Independent on Sunday.
The Russian oligarch is said to have been in talks with Independent News and Media (IN&M) managing director Simon Kelner for several months.
According to Media Week, Mr Lebedev could buy out the cash-stricken titles before the end of the month.
"There have been a number of discussions between the two parties, one of which has been over the sale of the Independent and Independent on Sunday to Lebedev," a source said.
The billionaire former Russian legislator bought the Evening Standard in January and rumours of a follow-up purchase of the Independent titles increased when their journalists moved into the Standard's offices.
Last year IN&M's financial problems were brought to light when the company revealed its pre-tax profits had all but disappeared to €200,000 (£170,000).
Mr Lebedev, who owns a third of the Russian airline Aeroflot and large parts of utility giant Gazprom, is also among the owners of Novoya Gazeta in his native Russia, the newspaper Anna Politkovskaya was working for when she was murdered in 2007.