IN&M considers sale of India's largest newspaper

The group is understood to have held discussions with the founding family behind Dainik Jagran, which has a readership of 56.6m, about selling back its stake in the paper.

IN&M acquired a 26% stake in Jagran Prakashan, parent company of Dainik Jagran, for €25.5m (£22.6m) in 2004.

The news comes as IN&M finalises the sale of its stakes in German price-comparison website Verivox, and the online bingo firm Cashcade, which operates FoxyBingo.com.

In addition IN&M has received "one or two informal approaches" for The Independent, according to a report in The Daily Telegraph today.

Russian businessman Alexander Lebedev flagged up an interest last year, before he bought a 75% stake in London's Evening Standard from the Daily Mail and General Trust, and in January it emerged IN&M was open to offers.

Corporate finance group Lazard has been dealing with the sale enquiries on behalf of IN&M but the group has not been given a formal mandate to sell the title, according to the Telegraph.

Denis O'Brien, IN&M's second largest shareholder with 26%, has been calling for the sale of The Independent and Independent on Sunday, which are believed to be losing at least £10m per year.

His calls were previously blocked by IN&M's chief executive Sir Anthony O'Reilly, the group's largest shareholder with around 28.5% of the group.

But O'Reilly is retiring on May 7, his 73rd birthday, leaving his son Gavin O'Reilly in charge.

IN&M's share price has fallen by more than 90% over the past year and is currently trading at €0.20.

The group, which is set to release its preliminary 2008 results on April 24, recently conceded that a €200m bond due for repayment on May 18 will need rolling over after it scrapped a new bond issue last month.