The Independent a step closer to purchase by Lebedev

Posted by Alexandra Jaffe on March 17, 2010 at 6:09 PM

After much delay, a deal is said to be on the horizon for the sale of The Independent and The Independent on Sunday to Alexander Lebedev. Although The Times claimed on March 5th that its sources said a sale would happen that day, a finalized contract has yet to be seen.

Today, the UK's Office of Fair Trading declared that it would not be necessary to investigate the deal for competition issues, offering another green light to a deal that has been in the works for months.

Though The Guardian claims talks between Independent News and Media (INM) and Russian billionaire Lebedev have been going on since March of last year, The Independent only admitted to these talks in December. Since then, the deal has hit many roadblocks, partly because, as Steve Busfield of The Guardian has said, "Lebedev drives a hard bargain."

A main issue has been INM's 10-year printing deal with Trinity Mirror, the cancellation of which would cost Lebedev £35 million. It is expected that INM will pay Lebedev a portion of that sum as a part of the sale. The newspaper is likely to cost Lebedev just £1 to purchase, although he has pledged millions towards its improvement and development.

The Independent, launched in 1986, now incurs £10 million in losses per year, but the BBC's Robert Peston speculates that Lebedev will make changes to the paper to help alleviate that debt.

According to Peston, Lebedev is looking for a big-name editor to take on the project and has approached former BBC Director General Greg Dyke, who has not yet accepted. He is also likely to cut the price of the newspaper to boost circulation, although offering it for free, like Lebedev has done with the Evening Standard in London, would cost £30 million in lost revenue.

Sources: The Guardian, The Independent, BBC, The Times