Independent News to cut jobs at London Independent

DUBLIN, Nov 18 (Reuters) - Independent News & Media (INME.I) will cut jobs at its London-based Independent newspaper and Sunday sister title in a bid to slash costs as a global downturn hits advertising revenue, the publisher said on Tuesday.

"It is anticipated that the final number of redundancies will number around 90, of which a sizeable number will be voluntary, and the total savings will be in excess of 10 million pounds ($15 million)," it said, adding that the moves would come into effect by early 2009.

The Dublin-based group said the majority of redundancies would come from the editorial department.

"In common with newspapers around the world, The Independent and Independent on Sunday have been hit by a downturn in advertising revenue and this has prompted a major review of the papers' cost base," it said in a statement.

INM (INME.L) said it was also looking at outsourcing some areas of the operation.

"This restructuring will produce a significantly lower cost base, which will allow our titles to weather whatever storms the next few years will bring," said Ivan Fallon, Chief Executive of INM's UK operations.

Last month INM said the two London newspapers would start sharing some services with other UK publishers to cut costs and make editorial workflows more efficient.

INM, which also publishes the Irish Independent and titles in South Africa and India, has said it plans to sell its stake in Australasian radio and newspaper group APN News & Media Ltd (APN.AX) to cut its debt by about 800 million euros ($1 billion). (Reporting by Jonathan Saul, editing by Will Waterman)