Ex-KGB spy buys London newspaper

Russian ex-KGB agent Alexander Lebedev is to buy the London Evening Standard newspaper, its publishers have said.

The Daily Mail & General Trust (DMGT) said it had agreed to the sale of a majority interest in the paper to Mr Lebedev for a "nominal sum".

The billionaire businessman is believed to have made an offer for approximately a 76% share of the paper.

He has previously revealed that he used the paper to find out information when he was a young spy based in London.

DMGT said the Evening Standard would pass into the hands of Evening Press, a company formed by Mr Lebedev and his son Evgeny Lebedev and owned by Lebedev Holdings.