The Russian oligarch bought the loss-making paper from Irish company Independent News & Media (INM) for £1, the cost of one daily edition of the newspaper. As part of the deal, INM agreed to pay Mr Lebedev's Independent Print Limited (IPL) £9.25m over the next 10 months to cover "all future trading liabilities and obligations".
Speaking to the AFP news agency in Moscow shortly before the deal was announced, Mr Lebedev said, "I do not treat newspapers as business. I treat them as my responsibility. I think newspapers are the only instrument which, through investigative reporting, can ferret out everything about international corruption." As a result of the sale, which is expected to be completed in May, INM UK head Ivan Fallon has retired from the group.
The National Union of Journalists said it had "no concerns about [Mr Lebedev's] editorial influence. "We would like to think Mr Lebedev has an imaginative plan with good editorial investment in journalism, and a good distribution plan to maintain and increase the circulation of the paper. We would also like to see all the speculation about editorship resolved quickly.
