Russian billionaire Alexander Lebedev is in negotiations to sell The Independent which he bought in 2010 for one pound.

      According to The Guardian, the reason for the sale is the fact the media mogul has not been able to make the title a profitable venture.

      Lebedev also owns The Evening Standard and London Live, a TV station that has not been launched yet.

      He also has a stake in Novaya Gazeta, one of Russia’s most vocal opposition papers.

      Apparently, the decision to sell The Independent comes in the wake of increasing financial pressure, says the Newsru.com online news outlet.

      In the past year, he sold what remained of his stake in Aeroflot, Russia’s leading airline.

      What used to be a blocking interest several years ago shrunk to 12.5 percent in 2012 and further down to 4.5 percent in 2013, worth some 2.5 billion roubles, or some $85 million.

      Lebedev did not disclose the price of the deal but mentioned that it totaled several billion.

      Previously, he also owned the Red Wings airline whose license was revoked after one of its passenger jets skid off the runway onto an adjacent highway.

      His bank has been under pressure from the law enforcement agencies and the Central Bank.

      Last year, Lebedev was sentenced to 150 hours of communal work on charges of battery after his punched another billionaire, Sergey Polonsky, in a live televised show.