IN&M likely to extend deadline for deal on sale of London titles

INDEPENDENT NEWS & Media (IN&M) is likely to extend the deadline for the end of talks on the sale of its London Independent titles to former KGB officer Alexander Lebedev.

In December, Mr Lebedev entered exclusive negotiations with the Irish publisher on the possible purchase of its loss-making London Independentand Independent on Sunday titles.

Today is the deadline for the end of those exclusive talks.

However, it is likely that IN&M will announce later today that it intends to extend the deadline, indicating that the negotiations are making progress and that there is a possibility of a deal being done.

It was reported last month that Mr Lebedev is unlikely to pay for the business, and that the disposal would result in IN&M taking a once-off €10 million charge on its accounts for either 2009 or this year.

However, the deal would ultimately result in savings for the media group which has never made a profit from the British titles.

When shareholder Denis O’Brien recommended the titles’ closure last year, IN&M argued that such a course of action would cost it €25 million.

Mr Lebedev, a former Lieut-Col in communist Russia's notorious secret police, the KGB, already owns a majority stake in London's main daily newspaper, the Evening Standard, and has been circling the Independenttitles since early last year.

He publicly declared his interest last July and some reports claimed he had at that stage met IN&M chief executive Gavin O’Reilly.

However, the company spent much of 2009 focusing on reaching a settlement with a group of bondholders which ultimately took a stake in the Irish company.

Mr Lebedev made a formal approach in December, after that settlement had been reached.

The London Independenttitles' circulation has been falling.

Last week’s official sales figures showed the daily title was down 14 per cent year on year at an average of just under 190,000 total sales.

The Sunday newspaper had fallen 15.2 per cent year on year to 159,000 sales.