Publisher Johnston Press has confirmed it is in advanced discussions with the Lebedev family to buy the i newspaper.
The tabloid version of stablemate The Independent was launched in October 2010 with a 20 pence cover price, which has since risen to 40 pence.
Johnston Press said the price tag for the newspaper is likely to be £24 million, which it said would be “provided from the Group&apos;s existing cash resources”.
“In the year ended 30 September 2015, the i had unaudited carve-out operating profit of £5.2 million,” Johnston Press said.
Johnston Press said the acquisition “would create the UK&apos;s fourth largest print publisher with over 600,000 paid copies a day”.
The i was launched in October 2010 with a 20 pence cover price, which has since risen to 40 pence, and sells around 275,000 copies a day compared with The Independent&apos;s 56,000 copies.
Johnston Press said it also plans to launch a new website and push the i into “new geographic markets” and sees an upside in “potential cross-selling of i&apos;s advertiser base and vice-versa”.
Johnston Press noted in a statement to the stock exchange: “There can be no certainty that the discussions between the Company and Independent Print Limited (IPL) will lead to any definitive agreement concerning the possible acquisition or as to the final terms of any such agreement.
Former Scotsman editor John McGurk claimed in an editorial on the Scot-Buzz website earlier in the week Johnston Press has put The Scotsman up for sale with a £10 million price-tag.
Johnston Press refused to comment.
The Edinburgh-based publisher told staff in an email last month it had identified 59 “sub-core” titles within its publishing stable, including the Scotland on Sunday and 15 other Scottish local titles.
Shares in Johnston Press opened up 1.2 per cent on Thursday.