* Johnston says in late-stage talks
* Says price for Independent's i newspaper likely to be 24mln stg
* Deal would create Britain's fourth-largest print publisher (Adds detail, analyst comment, share price)
By Rahul B and Esha Vaish
Feb 11 (Reuters) - Britain's Johnston Press is inadvanced talks to buy Britain's "i" newspaper from its Russianowners in a deal that could cast doubt over the future of sisterpaper The Independent at a time of falling circulation for printmedia.
Johnston, publisher of The Scotsman newspaper, said onThursday that it is in late-stage discussions with IndependentPrint Ltd over a 24 million pound ($35 million) deal for thebudget tabloid that currently shares content with itsstablemate.
The newspaper industry has been hammered in recent years asadvertisers have followed readers to online platforms, forcingprint publishers such as Trinity Mirror and Daily Mailand General Trust to cut costs drastically.
Reporting its fifth consecutive decline in full-yearrevenue, Edinburgh-based Johnston said in January that it wouldconsider selling brands it does not consider part of itslong-term future. The company publishes more than 200 titles.
Alex DeGroote, an analyst at stockbroking firm Peel Hunt, described the proposed acquisition as a very bold strategic moveby Johnston because it appears to contradict the company's pushtowards digital growth, adding that it would also raisequestions over The Independent's future as a standalone title.
"It's in a tricky place now ... there must be some sharedjournalism between the Independent and i," DeGroote said. "(and)it seems clear that Johnston is not interested in both titles."
TARGETING ADVERTISING UPLIFT
The deal would create the UK's fourth-largest printpublisher, Johnston said, with circulation of more than 600,000paid copies a day and a bigger share of the national advertisingmarket.
The company said that it expects i's growing circulationrevenue to present new opportunities, with a proposed digitalproduct also an option. Johnston expects the acquisition to addto its earnings immediately.
Launched in 2010, i sold 274,000 daily copies on average inNovember, according to circulation auditors ABC. That is nearlyfive times as many copies as the Independent, which sells forfour times as much per copy as the 40 pence charged by itssister title.
The success of i has prompted rival publishers to considerlaunching similar cut-price newspapers to appeal to readers whofor decades have been losing the habit of paying for establishedtitles.
The Independent's average daily circulation fell to only56,000 in November from a peak of more than 400,000 in 1989.
Independent Print is controlled by the family of Russianoligarch Alexander Lebedev, whose ESI Media confirmed by emailthat it is in talks with Johnston regarding the sale of i, butthat no decision had been made.
The Telegraph first reported on Wednesday that talks weretaking place. (http://bit.ly/1Pmd644)
Johnston's shares were down nearly 1 percent at 39.50 penceat 1250 GMT.($1 = 0.6916 pounds) (Additional reporting by Paul Sandle in London; Editing byDavid Goodman and Robin Paxton)
