Russian oligarch Alexander Lebedev, owner of the Evening Standard, may be considering a bid approach for The Independent and its Sunday sister as Sir Anthony O'Reilly prepares to step down from his chief executive role at Independent News & Media.
It has been reported that Levedev has been in fairly advanced discussions with Simon Kelner, the managing director of the Independent newspaper titles, for about a year. Speculation is circulating that a deal could be completed by the end of this month.
Both the Evening Standard and the Independent titles are loss making, and are already based in the same building. A deal by Lebedev would mean further cost savings. Journalists could write for all three newspapers. The advertising sales departments and editorial teams for the newspapers could merge, with potential redundancies.
The owner of the Independent wants a buyer to take on its losses, which is thought to be £10m per year for each title.
It is not clear whether Lebedev can currently afford to take on another newspaper. It has been reported that he aims to create a worldwide newspaper business, initially buying up more UK titles. There are questions, however, about his ability to raise the necessary funding.
Sir Anthony has been running Independent News & Media since he become the main shareholder in 1973. O'Reilly's son Gavin, the firm's chief operating officer, has taken over as chief executive and is reported to have said that talks with Lebedev to date had only been about "operating synergies".
