Former KGB agent 'in talks to but INM titles'

The Russian oligarch owner of the Evening Standard newspaper is in advanced talks to buy Independent News & Media (INM) newspapers The Independent and The Independent on Sunday, it was reported today.

Alexander Lebedev - a former KGB agent - is said to have rekindled discussions that were put on hold in the summer as INM focused on restructuring its mammoth debt pile, according to the Financial Times.

It is understood that INM's recent debt restructuring has paved the way for sale talks to restart.

The move would give Mr Lebedev his second purchase in the UK newspaper market after he bought 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 INM titles already share the same offices as the London paper after relocating to space with the Standard's minority owner Associated Newspapers in Kensington, west London.

The future of the 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 INM's national newspapers as part of cost-cutting plans and INM has faced shareholder calls to close or offload the titles.

Mr Lebedev became the first Russian oligarch to own a British newspaper title when the Standard deal was completed.

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

He is not a newcomer to the industry however, 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 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 2.

The Independent is widely reported to be suffering hefty annual losses of around £10m (€11.27m).

INM reported a bottom-line pre-tax loss of €161.4mm last year, a deterioration of 165% on 2007.

Neither INM nor Mr Lebedev were immediately available for comment.