Torstar, 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.
The deal was announced on Tuesday evening.
Bitove and Rivett said former Ontario premier David Peterson will be vice chair of the company, which they intend to take private. Current Torstar CEO John Boynton will remain in his role. The deal was approved by Torstar’s board of directors, a “significant majority” of Class A voting shareholders, as well as Fairfax.
NordStar, controlled by Bitove and Rivett, and owned by their families, said just over 60 per cent of shareholders had already agreed to the transaction. A special shareholders’ meeting will be held in mid-July to formally vote on the deal.
The statement added that Bitove and Rivett will maintain the Star’s editorial process and commitment to the “Atkinson principles,” which have driven the paper’s progressive journalism throughout its 128-year history.
