| NEW
DELHI: Russian billionaire and former KGB agent Alexander Lebedev has agreed to
buy a controlling stake in the British newspaper The Evening Standard for a mere
one pound sterling due to the newspaper's loss-making status. The
World Association of Newspapers quoted the Press Association as reporting that
The Daily Mail & General Trust-owned newspaper is also expected to see revenues
dwindle in the coming years.
DMGT
will hand over the 75.1 per cent share in the London weekday newspaper to Lebedev's
company, Evening Press, which he formed with his son Evgeny. DMGT's Associated
Newspapers division will continue to hold the minority 24.9 per cent share in
the new firm, now called Evening Standard Ltd. "We
got nothing up front," said DMGT finance director Peter Williams, noting
the sum Lebedev paid was "truly nominal, totally immaterial, doesn't matter,"
according to the Press Association. However,
Williams told Press Association that DMGT will receive a share of the Evening
Standard's profits when it begins making money again. | 
