Alexander Lebedev, the Russian oligarch who owns the Evening Standard, is closing in on a deal to buy The Independent and The Independent on Sunday from Sir Anthony O’Reilly’s Independent News & Media.
The Russian has been in on-off discussions with Simon Kelner, the managing director of the Independent titles, for about a year — but talks are thought to have made significant progress recently as Mr Lebedev has become more enthusiastic about a purchase. Those close to the discussions said that a transaction had not yet been agreed, but a sale was now a realistic possibility, as Independent News & Media grapples with a €200 million (£170 million) bond that it does not have the cash to repay.
News of the renewed interest also comes on Sir Anthony’s last full day as chief executive of the company, which he has run since he became its dominant shareholder in 1973. He will step down at tomorrow’s annual meeting.
Sir Anthony, who built up a chain of Irish newspapers into a print multinational, first bought into The Independent in 1994, and after a battle with David Montgomery’s Mirror Group, took full control four years later. Routinely described as the “flagship” of his Independent News & Media group, the London based paper has nevertheless always been loss-making with a relatively modest readership.
A tie-up between the fourth-ranked daily and the London evening title would allow the two to make significant savings in terms of advertising staff and, potentially, journalists who could be shared across the titles. Any rationalisation would help to curb both papers’ losses, which are estimated to be running at a little over £10 million a year each.