Geordie Greig, editor of the society magazine Tatler, is being lined up for the same role at the London Evening Standard if, as expected, Russian oligarch Alexander Lebedev buys the paper.
He is understood to be the top candidate to edit the paper, owned by Daily Mail & General Trust, or take an editor-in-chief role, but he has not signed a contract.
Greig, 48, who is already well known to Lebedev, has edited Conde Nast's Tatler for nearly a decade. An Old Etonian and Oxford graduate, he has worked at the Daily Mail, Today and Sunday Times in roles including war reporter, crime reporter, fashion writer, New York correspondent and literary editor. He started his journalism career at the Kentish Mercury, based in Deptford.
Lebedev's son, Evgeny, who lives in London, was due to see DMGT's lawyers yesterday for a meeting at which it was understood the final terms of a deal to buy a 76% stake in the Standard would be thrashed out. DMGT would retain a 24% stake.
However, tempers are understood to have frayed on both sides yesterday after details of the imminent sale were revealed by the Guardian. It also emerged yesterday that there are outstanding issues to be settled before the deal can be finalised.
Lord Rothermere, DMGT's chairman, is understood still to hold concerns over post-takeover issues, including redundancies, who will pay for them and the final details of the Standard remaining at the company's headquarters in Derry Street, Kensington, west London. The outstanding issues are not thought to be deal-breaking and one source familiar with the talks said the takeover should be completed within days.
Lebedev is understood to have firm ideas for the Standard, including making the paper fresher and younger, away from the influence of Paul Dacre, the powerful and opinionated editor-in-chief of Associated Newspapers, the DMGT subsidiary that publishes the paper. It is not known what will happen to Veronica Wadley, who has edited the Standard since 2002.
It is understood Lebedev has also held talks with Independent News & Media about buying a stake in the Independent. Lebedev's spokesman, Artyom Artyomov, said yesterday that he was still also interested in other "influential and independent newspapers which are in a difficult economic position".
The Russian tycoon wants to establish a new editorial and advisory board for the Standard. This could include heavyweight global figures such as Mikhail Gorbachev - the former Soviet president and Lebedev's personal friend - as well as Tony Blair, former French president Jacques Chirac, and leading Russian editors. In Russia he is co-owner of Moscow newspaper Novaya Gazeta, for which murdered journalist Anna Politkovskaya worked.
DMGT's share price rose almost 5% yesterday after news of the Standard deal broke, only to fall back later.
