No Independent deal yet for Lebedev

London: There is no deal yet between Irish Independent owners Independent News & Media, in talks over its two loss-making British national papers, and Russian billionaire Alexander Lebedev, an industry source told Reuters yesterday.

“There are still i’s to be dotted and t’s to be crossed. There’s no deal until there’s a deal,” the source said. Lebedev and INM entered an exclusive non-binding agreement about the Independent and the Independent on Sunday in December.