<P> In 1980, Express Newspapers merged the Standard with Associated Newspapers' Evening News in a Joint Operating Agreement . The new paper was known as the Newstandard until 1985, when Associated Newspapers bought out the remaining stake, turning it into The Standard . In 1987 the Evening News was briefly revived to compete with Robert Maxwell's London Daily News, but was reabsorbed into The Standard later that year, after the collapse of Maxwell's paper . In 1988 the Evening Standard included the by - line "Incorporating the' Evening News"', which remained until the paper's sale in 2009 . </P> <P> On 21 January 2009, the Russian businessman and former KGB agent Alexander Lebedev and his son Evgeny Lebedev, owners of The Independent, agreed to purchase control of the newspaper at £ 1 for 64 percent ownership . A few years earlier, 12 percent of the paper was sold to Justin Shaw and Geordie Greig . Associated News keeps the remaining 24 percent . </P> <P> In November 2009, it was announced that the London Evening Standard would drop its midday "News Extra" edition from 4 January 2010 with the first edition being the West End Final, available from 2 pm . One edition of 600,000 copies would be printed starting at 12: 30 pm, ending 3 am starts for journalists and the previous deadline of 9 am for the first edition; twenty people were expected to lose their jobs as a result . </P> <P> Previously there were three editions each weekday, excluding Bank holidays . The first, "News Extra", went to print at 10: 00 am and was available around 11 am in central London, slightly later in more outlying areas (such as Kent). A second edition, "West End Final", went to print at 3 pm, and the "Late Night Final" went to print at 5 pm and was available in the central area from about 6 pm There was often considerable variation between the editions, particularly with the front page lead and following few pages, including the Londoner's Diary, though features and reviews stayed the same . The page changes were indicated by stars in the bottom left - hand corner of each page: two stars for the second edition, three stars for the third . In January 2010, circulation was increased to 900,000 . </P>

When does the evening standard go to print