Jan. 15 (Bloomberg) -- Russian oligarch and ex-KGB officer Alexander Lebedev is continuing an effort to buy a controlling stake in the London Evening Standard newspaper from Daily Mail and General Trust Plc, a person with direct knowledge of the bid said.

An answer on the proposal to acquire 75 percent plus one share is expected today, a person familiar with the talks said. A Daily Mail spokesman declined to comment. Lebedev, a 49-year-old millionaire who was worth billions until markets collapsed last year, said he’s held talks with the owners of top U.K. newspapers, including Evening Standard owner Lord Rothermere, for more than a year.

“This is not my way to make money, but I’d like to explain to the public that newspapers are something they should love and cherish,” Lebedev said in an interview yesterday. “Obviously I would be in charge of the financial side” and wouldn’t play a role in news content, he said.

Lebedev, who made his fortune in banking, is founder of Moscow news magazine Korrespondent and owns a stake in the Novaya Gazeta newspaper. He is part of a wave of Russian oligarchs who have snapped up U.K. assets in the past several years. Roman Abramovich bought London’s Chelsea Football Club in 2003, Alisher Usmanov is the largest investor in the Arsenal Football Club and Nikolai Smolensky owns British sports-car maker TVR Engineering Ltd.

Daily Mail shares rose 2.75 pence, or 1.1 percent, to 261 pence at 11:25 a.m. in London.

The Independent

Forbes magazine in May ranked Lebedev as Russia’s 39th richest man, with a net worth of $3.1 billion. His business interests include banking, agriculture and construction.

Lebedev has also signaled interest in The Independent, a U.K. national newspaper with daily circulation of about 200,000 that has experienced job losses, budget cuts and a decline in ad revenue from print display and classified advertising amid the credit crunch. A spokesman for Independent News & Media Plc, which owns the titles, declined to comment.

“I have an interest in serving the case of defending the freedom and independence of print media,” Lebedev said.

The Evening Standard, which has lost market share in part because of competition from free newspapers passed out on London streets and at train stations, had an average circulation of about 287,000, the most recent figures from the Audit Bureau of Circulation show.

“These assets are trophy assets,” said Adrian Monck, the head of the journalism department at City University London. “The Evening Standard is London’s only paid newspaper and it commands lot of prestige. Owning it accordingly would be a trophy asset.”

Independent News & Media said Nov. 28 it would relocate to the same building that houses Associated Newspapers, publisher of the London Evening Standard, Daily Mail, The Mail on Sunday and free newspapers Metro and London Lite. Independent News said some back-office services would be shared with Associated Newspapers.

To contact the reporter on this story: Kristen Schweizerkschweizer1@bloomberg.net.

Last Updated: January 15, 2009 06:40 EST