Feb 15 (Reuters) - British media group The Independent is in talks to take control of the operations of BuzzFeed and Huffington Post in the UK and Ireland, as it seeks to build scale in a tougher climate for advertising revenues, the Financial Times reported on Thursday.

Shares of the media company rose more than 70%. (Reporting by Jaspreet Singh in Bengaluru; Editing by Anil D'Silva)