Independent News & Media has confirmed that it is in talks with Alexander Lebedev, the owner of London's Evening Standard, about its London Independent newspaper titles.
Its statement followed a report in this morning's Financial Times. INM said it had entered into an exclusive - but non-binding - agreement with Mr Lebedev, but the exclusivity agreement would expire on February 15. INM stressed that the talks were still preliminary.
The FT report said Mr Lebedev had held intermittent talks over the past year with INM to buy the UK titles. But it said plans were put on hold over the summer as INM held talks with its lenders about the restructuring of its debt.
The Independent was widely reported earlier this year to be suffering losses of more than £10m a year. INM's board had faced significant pressure from major shareholder Denis O'Brien to dispose of the titles.
The Independent would be the second UK newspaper purchase for Mr Lebedev, chairman of the National Reserve Bank in Russia. He bought the loss-making Evening Standard for a nominal fee from Daily Mail & General Trust in January.
Shares in INM surged 18.2% to close at 13 cent in Dublin.
