The paper, founded in 1986 with a determination to stay out of the grip of the world's big press barons, had resisted a takeover led by Britain's Mirror Group and the publishers of Spanish daily El Pais and Italy's La Repubblica for more than a month.
Irish tycoon Tony O'Reilly tried to scoop the consortium's bid by buying a chunk of shares at a better price, but ultimately fought shy of launching a full offer.
After squeezing better terms from the consortium, also backed by founder Andreas Whittam- Smith, and with cash running dangerously low, the Independent finally gave in.
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