The Independent was put up for sale

The British newspaper The Independent is put up for sale by its owners - Russian entrepreneur Alexander Lebedev and his son Eugene.

The founder of the newspaper Andreas Uittam Smith received an order to look for customers from them, writes The Guardian .

Earlier, the owners of The Independent announced their intention to get rid of the newspaper of publications - the daily I and Sunday The Independent on Sunday .

As the most likely reason for the decision on the sale of the publication, a noticeable deterioration in the financial situation of Alexander Lebedev is called over the past two years.

The Independent newspaper was founded in 1986, ideologically close to the Liberal Democratic Party of Great Britain. The circulation of daily output in 2013 amounted to 68 thousand copies, Sunday - 110 thousand.

Lebedev, who was already owned by the London newspaper Evening Standard , bought The Independent in 2010. The transaction value then amounted to a symbolic 1 pounds, but later the Russian billionaire invested significant funds in the development of the publication.

According to the British press, Lebedev is not going to sell a profitable London Evening Standard . The sale of The Independent will not affect its plans to launch the London Live information and entertainment television channel, scheduled for March 2014.