The Independent seeks buyer

The Independent is up for sale. The paper's founder, and current chairman of its publishing company, Andreas Whittam Smith, has been authorised to seek out a buyer.The owners, Alexander Lebedev and his son, Evgeny, have been indicating for some time that they would be happy to dispose of the paper and its sister titles, i, and the Independent on Sunday.They have made various cryptic statements over the last six months about their willingness to offload loss-making papers that they see no prospect of turning into profit.Alexander Lebedev's fortunes, based on a variety of businesses in Russia, have declined dramatically over the last couple of years.The first major indication of his decision to sell the papers was two key changes of personnel on the board of the company responsible for running them, Independent Print.Whittam Smith moved from being a non-executive director to become chairman. And, most striking of all, Evgeny stood down from the board.The official line from Independent Print is that Whittam Smith is merely seeking new investors. But the reality is that the papers are in play. Whittam Smith is said to feel "honour bound" to save the title he launched in 1986 and to do all he can to find someone willing to continue publishing the paper.At present, bankers have not been appointed. And no genuine bidder, thus far, has emerged. (Rumours some weeks ago that Charles Saatchi was interested were quickly scotched).It would appear that Whittam Smith has put out a... Continue reading at 'The Guardian'

[ The Guardian | 2014-01-16 00:00:00 UTC ]
News tagged with: #controlling stake

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