Torstar Corp., the parent company of the Toronto Star and a host of other media properties across Canada, is being sold to NordStar Capital LP, a private firm owned by businessmen Paul Rivett and Jordan Bitove, in a $52 million deal, Torstar announced Tuesday evening.
Upon completion of the transaction, the company will be taken private.
“Since its inception as the Evening Star, the Star has been the voice of this city. As Canada’s largest daily newspaper, it has fulfilled a vital civic role as an outlet for expert opinion and what’s trusted as true,” Rivett said in a statement.
According to the statement, NordStar has indicated that former Ontario premier David Peterson will be appointed as vice chair of the Toronto Star once the deal closes.
Under terms of the deal, Bitove and Rivett will acquire all Class A shares and Class B non-voting shares of Torstar for 63 cents per share — a 67 per cent premium to the average trading price of the Class B shares on the Toronto Stock Exchange as of May 25.
Torstar stock fell 17 per cent Tuesday, to close at 40 cents, roughly the same price at which it traded when the COVID-19-induced economic shutdown began two-and-a-half months ago.
“We believe in news. With this transaction we can ensure a future for world-class journalists and world-class journalism befitting the Star’s storied history,” Bitove said in Tuesday’s press release. “We are committed to investing in the news business, along with preserving the Atkinson Principles, as fairness and accuracy will continue to guide the papers’ prevailing value system.”
With this transaction we can ensure a future for world-class journalists and world-class journalism
The transaction was supported by the media company’s largest independent shareholder, Fairfax Financial, which owns roughly 40 per cent of Torstar’s non-voting Class B shares. Rivett recently stepped down as president of Fairfax.
A meeting of all Class A and Class B shareholders will be called in mid-July to approve the transaction, and the deal is expected to close by the fall of 2020.
“While we have loved the company and are immensely proud of it, the time has come to pass the torch,” said John Honderich, chair of the Board of Torstar. “We hope the sale will benefit Torstar in the years ahead.”
John Boynton will remain as CEO of the company.
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