Lebedev ropes in Egyptian tycoon to help buy Indy

Alexander Lebedev, the Russian owner of the London Evening Standard, appears poised to bring a billionaire Egyptian partner into his proposed takeover of the Independent and Independent on Sunday newspapers.

According to the Guardian - which recently reported that Lebedev (above), a former KGB spy, is looking to replace Indy editor Roger Alton with Rod Liddle - the Russian tycoon wants to bring Samih Sawiris in on the deal.

The Sawiris family are Coptic Christians and known as one of Egypt's wealthiest families. Their fortune, estimated at $20 billion, comes from construction and cellphone businesses across North Africa, Italy, Greece, North Korea and Pakistan.

One of three brothers, Berlin-educated Samih is chairman and chief executive of Orascom Development. He's already an investor in al-Masry al-Youm, an Egyptian paper known for backing an independent editorial agenda, and he is known as an advocate of a progressive, secular, democratic future for Egypt.

Lebedev and Sawiris are already involved in a development in Switzerland where they plan to turn a disused barracks into a resort with an artificial beach and a golf course.

But Lebedev's plan to bring in a partner is raising questions about his commitment to purchase the Independent titles. Last week, he was quoted saying he would "absolutely" fund his proposed buyout from his own pocket. He's currently raising £450m from the sale of his stake in Aeroflot and the Ilyushin Finance Corporation.

"Ideally, he would like to liquidate everything in Russia and move to London," an unnamed source told the Guardian.

But it is thought the Independent's pension scheme and printing deals are proving stumbling blocks to any deal. Negotiations will automatically fail unless they are completed by February 15.

In an interview with the Daily Telegraph last week, Lebedev warned that his support of the Evening Standard, which he bought for £1 and assumption of debts, would not be limitless. The oligarch has given himself three years and £30m to turn around the paper which recently transformed itself into a freesheet to boost circulation to over 500,000.

Estimates of Lebedev's fortune vary. Several years ago it was said to be $3.8bn. Last year, Forbes placed it at $600m, while Finance magazine in Moscow said the figure was $1.95bn. "When I started negotiations about the Evening Standard, I had a nest egg of $1.5bn in stocks, which is not there any more," Lebedev told the Telegraph. ·