Sir Anthony O’Reilly, the former international rugby union winger turned newspaper magnate, has taken control of titles in every large rugby playing country except France as he built up Independent News & Media (IN&M).

However, debt worries are forcing a retreat that could see his company forced into selling The Independent in London – if Sir Anthony cannot cut €1.4 billion (£1.1 billion) of borrowings with disposals elsewhere.

The newspaper publisher has to redeem a €200 million bond in May, and hopes to raise €300 million from selling its 39.1 per cent shareholding in APN, the owner of The New Zealand Herald and regional newspapers and radio stations in Australia.

APN has attracted interest – thought to be from Australian media groups – but Merrill Lynch believes it is unlikely to be compelling to a single buyer as a whole. Should the sale process falter, or the company’s balance sheet deteriorate further, then, as Citigroup cautioned yesterday, “further asset sales may be considered”. APN also has €550 million of its own debt that is guaranteed by IN&M, making a disposal more urgent. Of its wholly owned businesses, only in South Africa is IN&M trading healthily.

Talk of a sale of The Independent ignited over the weekend, with speculation that Daily Mail and General Trust, owner of the Daily Mail, might be willing to take on The Independent for £1. That was denied by both sides, with Gavin O’Reilly, IN&M’s chief operating officer, describing it as “complete fabrication”. What helped to trigger the talk, though, was a new, radical cost-cutting initiative at a title that remains the weakest of London’s ten morning dailies, at a time when the economy is heading for recession.

IN&M has been discreetly holding talks with every large newspaper publisher, bar News International, the owner ofThe Times, and Richard Desmond, owner of the Daily Express, about a cost-cutting plan that would see national newspapers sharing overheads, which could include sales and sub-editing functions.

The company hopes that the plan could generate significant savings, which would, in turn, ease the pressure from the dissident 21 per cent shareholder Denis O’Brien, who on Friday asked: “Why have they not disposed of the nonperforming UK assets?”

Even IN&M does not completely disagree with Mr O’Brien, describingThe Independent and the company’s Sunday sister was one of its “underperforming divisions” – an unusually frank turn of phrase for a company that has refused to countenance talk of a sale of what Sir Anthony has described as a “calling card” to help him complete other deals. The Independent has long lost money – estimated at €10 million last year – but its losses had historically been offset by profits generated by the Belfast Telegraph. However, both titles are now suffering.

On Friday IN&M said that brand and retail advertising fell in September and October at its two UK titles – having previously held steady – on top of already declining property and recrutiment advertising where trading was already “very weak”.

The Independent has the lowest circulation of any national newspaper, with full price sales of 128,738 in September – and recently raised its cover price from 80p to £1 – or 25 per cent – in an effort to maintain falling advertising revenues.

Neverthless, it will need all of Sir Anthony’s skills, first honed on the rugby field, to maintainThe Independent as a healthy title in the long term.

International results round-up

UK (The Independent)
€15.5million

Ireland (The Irish Independent)
€98.3million

South Africa (The Star)
€59.1million

Australasia (Australian regional titles, New Zealand Herald)
€192.7million*

Interests in Dainik Jagran
India's biggest-selling newspaper, and Republika, an Indonesian daily

* 39.1 per cent-owned

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