Lebedev misses Indie deadline
THE deadline for talks on Russian billionaire Alexander Lebedev’s proposed takeover of Independent News & Media’s UK national newspapers, due today, is expected to be missed.
Long-running talks to acquire the Independent newspaper titles have not progressed as quickly as hoped, held back by issues thought to include a printing contract with Trinity Mirror that would cost more than £15m to break, pension deficits and redundancy costs.
Dublin-based INM said in December it entered into an exclusive non-binding agreement with Lebedev.