IN&M confirms Lebedev talks

Independent News and Media (IN&M) has this afternoon confirmed that it has entered talks with the Russian billionaire owner of the Evening Standard over the sale of the London Independent and its sister title, The Sunday Independent.

IN&M said it had entered into an exclusive agreement with former KGB chief Alexander Lebedev which will expire on February 15th if an agreement has yet to be reached by that date.

Mr Lebedev publicly declared his interest in buying the IN&M titles back in July. However, discussions were put on hold as IN&M focused on restructuring its mammoth debt pile.

IN&M's recent debt restructuring has paved the way for sale talks to restart and should a deal be agreed it would give Mr Lebedev his second purchase in the UK newspaper market following his purchase of London's loss-making Evening Standard newspaper in January for a nominal fee.

A deal bringing the Independent newspapers into the same fold as the Evening Standard would also be an easy logistical fit, as IN&M titles already share the same offices as the London paper after relocating to space with the Standard's minority owner Associated Newspapers in Kensington,.

In a statement issued today, IN&M stressed that talks were at a preliminary stage and are subject to due diligence.

"There is no certainty that these discussions will lead to the finalisation of a transaction of any kind," the company said.

The future of the London Independent and its Sunday counterpart have been widely speculated on over the past year as its Dublin-based parent has suffered losses amid an advertising slump.

Around 90 jobs have been cut at IN&M’s national newspapers as part of cost-cutting plans and IN&M has faced shareholder calls to close or offload the titles.

Mr Lebedev made his fortune mostly through stakes in banking and insurance companies and the Russian airline Aeroflot.

But he is not a newcomer to the industry, having founded the news magazine Korrespondent .

He is also the major shareholder, alongside former Soviet leader Mikhail Gorbachev, in the independent Russian newspaper Novaya Gazeta .

Mr Lebedev has made major changes to the Evening Standard since he took over as chairman, making the title free in October in an attempt to boost its circulation from 250,000 to more than 600,000.

It is also abandoning its noon edition to concentrate solely on the later evening issue from January 2nd.

Annual losses at the Standard are said to have been reduced from the estimated £10 million to £20 million a year seen at the time of its takeover by Mr Lebedev.

The Independent is also widely reported to be suffering hefty annual losses of around £10 million.

Its parent IN&M reported a bottom-line pre-tax loss of €161.4 million last year, a deterioration of 165 per cent on 2007.

Extra reporting: PA