The company that publishes the Toronto Star has agreed to be sold to a company run by entrepreneurs Jordan Bitove and Paul Rivett in a deal worth roughly $52 million.
Torstar, a print and digital publishing company that runs newspapers and websites across the country, including the Toronto Star and thestar.com, announced the deal with NordStar Capital Tuesday evening.
Tuesday, Torstar’s B shares fell 16 per cent, closing at 40 cents per share, giving up some of their gains from the day before, when they rose from as low as 33 cents to 48 cents per share, with most of the gains coming in the last hour of trading on the TSX. NordStar’s offer is worth 63 cents per share, for all Class A voting shares and Class B non-voting shares.
“We believe in news. With this transaction we can ensure a future for world-class journalists and world-class journalism befitting the paper’s storied history,” said Bitove. “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.
