Torstar

Last updated
Torstar Corporation
Company type Private
Industry Mass media
Founded1958;66 years ago (1958)
Headquarters8 Spadina Ave
Toronto, Ontario
Key people
Neil Oliver (CEO)
OwnerJordan Bitove [1]
Number of employees
<1000 (2024)
Divisions Toronto Star
Metroland Media Group
Website www.torstar.com
One Yonge Street, the former Torstar headquarters. Toronto - ON - Toronto Star Building.jpg
One Yonge Street, the former Torstar headquarters.

Torstar Corporation is a Canadian mass media company which primarily publishes news. In addition to the Toronto Star , its flagship and namesake, Torstar also publishes daily newspapers in Hamilton, Peterborough, Niagara Region, and Waterloo Region In addition to the Metroland Media Group and a minority position on Canadian Press. The corporation was initially established in 1958 to take over operations of the Star from the Atkinson Foundation after a provincial law banned charitable organizations from owning for-profit entities. From 1958 to 2020, the class A shares of Torstar were held by the families of the original Atkinson Foundation trustees. The private investment firm NordStar Capital LP, now owned by Jordan Bitove, acquired the company in 2020.

Contents

History

Torstar was founded after the Ontario government passed a law barring the provisions of late-Toronto Star owner Joseph Atkinson's will from being enacted. Atkinson had bequeathed the newspaper to a charitable organization he had founded. The Progressive Conservative provincial government of George Drew passed a law banning charitable organizations from operating profitable entities such as newspapers. Rather than sell the newspaper, the trustees of the Atkinson Foundation bought out the Star privately and founded Torstar as a private corporation.

On November 26, 2010, it was announced that the Canadian Press news agency would be taken over by a for-profit corporation, with Torstar serving as one of its investors. [2] On November 27, 2017, Postmedia and Torstar announced a transaction in which Postmedia would sell seven dailies, eight community papers, and the Toronto and Vancouver 24 Hours to Torstar, in exchange for 22 community papers and the Ottawa and Winnipeg versions of Metro. Except for the Exeter Times-Advocate , St. Catharines Standard , Niagara Falls Review , Peterborough Examiner , and Welland Tribune , all acquired papers were to be closed. Torstar stated that it wanted to focus on building synergies within its existing markets served. [3] [4] The swaps effectively remove competition between the two companies in the affected markets; [5] the Competition Bureau stated that it would review the proposed deal. [6] and in March 2018, formally accused the companies of using no-compete clauses to reduce competition in the newspaper industry, in violation of the Competition Act . [7] [8] On December 20, 2018, Torstar applied to the Ontario Superior Court for an order to keep documents seized from its offices by the Competition Bureau sealed from the public. [9]

Sale to NordStar

Initial NordStar proposal

On May 26, 2020, Toronto Star publisher John Honderich announced the sale of Torstar to Nordstar Capital LP, for $52 million. The price for the class A voting shares and class B non-voting shares was set at 63 cents in the deal. At the time of the most recent quarter, Torstar had $69 million in cash on its balance sheet – more than the $52-million acquisition price from Nordstar. [10] However, Torstar's share price had suffered from the company's inability to generate enough revenue or cost savings to pay quarterly dividends, which were suspended late in 2019. The suspension pushed the publicly traded B shares to what was then the lowest level since at least the late 1990s — 53 cents. [11] Weeks prior to the announcement of the deal, Torstar had reported a $23.5-million loss for the first quarter of 2020. [12]

The new owners planned to make Torstar a private company with former Premier of Ontario David Peterson as chair of the board.

NordStar revised proposal and final sale

On July 11, the NordStar bid was increased to $60 million, or 74 cents per share, with the Voting Trust and Fairfax revising their soft lock-up agreements, to hard lock-ups. [13] This effectively put an end to the bidding process because the terms of the revised bid meant that "the Voting Trust and Fairfax can't change their votes to support any other bid". [14]

In the shareholder vote held on July 21, 99.7% of the class A shareholders favoured the NordStar offer as did 98.1% class B shareholders. However, only 81.9% of minority shareholders (not including the Voting Trust or Fairfax Financial) voted to accept the NordStar offer. [15] On July 23, Blake, Cassels & Graydon LLP, an international corporate law firm representing Torstar, brought forth a motion on behalf of Torstar before Ontario Superior Court Justice Gilmore to approve Torstar's plan of arrangement with respect to the acquisition of Torstar. [16] Grant Vingoe, chair of the Ontario Securities Commission, had previously said in a letter to Andrea Horvath that the court was the appropriate venue to challenge the proposal. [17] He further said that the test to be applied by the court was whether the process leading to the arrangement was fair and reasonable. On July 25, the Globe and Mail published an interview with Butch Folland, a significant member of Torstar's voting trust and the great grandson of the founder of Torstar, Joseph E. Atkinson, Torstar's original publisher and the author of the Atkinson Principles. Folland is also the grandson of Harry Hindmarsh, who was President of the Star following Atkinson's death in 1948. His personal ties to the Toronto Star date back to age 13 when he took a job as an office boy. In that article. Folland is quoted as saying, "I was really disappointed in the outcome. I felt that the process wasn't really fair in the way it affected me." [18]

Late in the evening on July 27, an Ontario court approved the $60-million takeover of Torstar Corp. by private equity firm NordStar Capital LP over the objections of a rival bidding group, which immediately said it planned to appeal the judge's decision. [19] Ontario Superior Court Justice Cory Gilmore ruled NordStar, could close their purchase of Torstar,

Operations

Daily News Brands

The Daily News Brands division primarily comprises the Toronto Star and its associated properties, including Torstar Syndication Services. The division also owns The Hamilton Spectator, the Waterloo Region Record, the St. Catharines Standard, the Niagara Falls Review, the Welland Tribune, and the Peterborough Examiner. The StarMetro chain of free daily newspapers serving Calgary, Edmonton, Halifax, Toronto, and Vancouver was also part of this division until publication of those titles ceased in 2019.

Community Brands

The Community Brands division, Metroland Media Group, owns more than 70 weekly community papers as of late May 2020, the free magazine Canadian Immigrant , and other community-oriented properties. [20]

VerticalScope

On July 29, 2015, Torstar announced its acquisition of a 56% majority stake in VerticalScope, a Toronto-based owner of online communities, for $200 million. VerticalScope operates numerous websites and internet discussion message boards dedicated to various topics. Torstar CEO David Holland explained that the purchase was designed to bolster the company's presence in digital media. [21]

As of June of 2021, VerticalScope was taken public [22] and through an IPO and is now publicly traded under the ticker FORA on the Toronto Stock Exchange. As part of that IPO, Torstar ceased owning VerticalScope.

Star Touch and ePaper apps

Launched in 2015, Toronto Star Touch was the company's app designed specifically for tablet computers. It was discontinued in late July 2017 after an investment totaling $20 million because of an inadequate volume of readers and advertisers and was replaced by universal apps available for both Android and iOS smartphones and tablets. [23] [24]

Management

The following is a list of past presidents and CEOs of Torstar:

Other investments

Torstar owns a 20 per cent stake in the Victoria, British Columbia-based newspaper publisher Black Press. [26] The company is also part owner of The Canadian Press. [27]

Past investments

Torstar launched a weekly celebrity-based magazine called Scoop in 2005, which folded one year later.

Between late 2005 and early 2011, Torstar also held a 20 per cent stake in CTVglobemedia, a Canadian media company which broke up when BCE Inc., the parent company of Bell Canada, purchased the company's media assets. [28] This caused some controversy because CTVgm owned The Globe and Mail , a competing newspaper to Torstar's own Toronto Star . There were no editorial hurdles between the two newspapers however. Torstar sold its shares in 2011.

On May 2, 2014, Torstar announced the sale of Harlequin Enterprises, a publisher of romance novels, to HarperCollins for $415 million. [29] [30]

See also

Related Research Articles

<i>Toronto Star</i> Canadian daily newspaper published in Ontario

The Toronto Star is a Canadian English-language broadsheet daily newspaper. It is owned by Toronto Star Newspapers Limited, a subsidiary of Torstar Corporation and part of Torstar's Daily News Brands division.

Sun Media Corporation was the owner of several tabloid and broadsheet newspapers in Canada and the 49 percent owner of the now defunct Sun News Network. It was a subsidiary of Quebecor Media.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Bell Media</span> Canadian media company

Bell Media Inc. is a Canadian media conglomerate that is the mass media subsidiary of BCE Inc.. Its operations include national television broadcasting and production, radio broadcasting, digital media and Internet properties.

Osprey Media L.P. was a Canadian newspaper regional chain that published 20 daily newspapers, 34 non-daily newspapers, and a number of shopping guides and magazines in the Canadian province of Ontario. Formerly an independent income trust, Osprey was taken over by Quebecor's Sun Media division in 2007. With the sale of Sun Media to Postmedia Network a decade later, many of its former newspapers owned by Osprey today are either owned by Postmedia or Torstar.

Postmedia News is a national news agency with correspondents in Canada, Europe, and the United States and is part of the Canadian newspaper chain owned by Postmedia Network Inc.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Fairfax Financial</span> Financial holding company based in Toronto, Ontario

Fairfax Financial Holdings Limited is a Canadian financial holding company based in Toronto, Ontario, engaged in property, casualty, insurance and reinsurance, investment management, and insurance claims management. The company operates primarily through several subsidiaries, including Allied World, Odyssey Re, Northbridge Financial, Crum & Forster, Verassure Insurance, Onlia Agency Inc., and Zenith Insurance Company. The company was also the largest shareholder of Torstar with 40% of the Class B shares, as of May 2020.

<i>Waterloo Region Record</i> Daily newspaper in Waterloo Region, Canada

The Waterloo Region Record is the daily newspaper covering Waterloo Region, Ontario, Canada, including the cities of Kitchener, Waterloo and Cambridge, as well as the surrounding area. Since December 1998, the Record has been published by Metroland Media Group, a subsidiary of Torstar Corporation. On May 26, 2020, Torstar, agreed to be acquired by NordStar Capital, a private investment firm; the deal was expected to close by year end.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Paul Godfrey</span> Canadian businessman and politician

Paul Victor Godfrey, CM, OOnt is a businessman and former Canadian politician. During his career, Godfrey was a North York alderman, Chairman of Metro Toronto, President of the Toronto Sun and head of the Toronto Blue Jays. He was instrumental in bringing the Toronto Blue Jays to Toronto and has campaigned to bring the National Football League to Toronto. He is the former president and CEO of Postmedia Network.

<i>24 Hours</i> (newspaper) Canadian free daily newspaper

24 Hours, is a group of English-language and French-language free daily newspapers published in Canada. It was published in French in Montreal and Gatineau, and in English in Calgary, Edmonton, Ottawa, Toronto, and Vancouver. The Gatineau edition was discontinued in 2008 and the Calgary, Edmonton, and Ottawa editions ceased publication in 2013. The Toronto and Vancouver editions were sold to Postmedia Network as part of Quebecor's divestment of English-language news, and they were later acquired by Torstar in an asset swap on November 27, 2017 and immediately shut down in favour of the Torstar-owned Metro papers in those cities.

<i>The Peterborough Examiner</i>

The Peterborough Examiner is a newspaper that services Peterborough, Ontario and area. The paper started circulation in 1847, and is currently owned by Torstar and operated by its Metroland division. Between 1942 and 1955, it was edited by Canadian man of letters Robertson Davies, whose unique three-paragraph editorial style won several awards. Davies remained owner and publisher of the Examiner and Ralph Hancox the editor until 1967, when it was sold to the Thomson chain of newspapers. Subsequently, Sterling, Hollinger and Sun Media owned the newspaper before Postmedia.

<i>St. Catharines Standard</i>

The St. Catharines Standard is a daily newspaper of the city of St. Catharines, Ontario, Canada. As of May 2020, the publication was owned by Torstar but on May 26, 2020, the company agreed to be acquired by NordStar Capital, a private investment firm. The deal was expected to close prior to year end.

<i>The Hamilton Spectator</i> Canadian daily newspaper

The Hamilton Spectator, founded in 1846, is a newspaper published weekdays and Saturdays in Hamilton, Ontario, Canada. One of the largest Canadian newspapers by circulation, The Hamilton Spectator is owned by Torstar.

Metroland Media Group is a Canadian mass media publisher and distributor which primarily operates in Southern Ontario. A division of the publishing conglomerate Torstar Corporation, Metroland published more than 70 local community newspapers–including six dailies–and many magazines. In addition to printing most of its own publications, Metroland operates as a commercial printer of flyers and magazines.

<i>Niagara Falls Review</i> Canadian daily newspaper

The Niagara Falls Review is a daily newspaper distributed in Niagara Falls and also serving the nearby towns of Fort Erie and Niagara-on-the-Lake area in Ontario, Canada. The paper is owned by Metroland Media Group, a subsidiary of Torstar. In late May 2020, Torstar accepted an offer for the sale of all of its assets to Nordstar Capital, a deal expected to close by year end.

The Barrie Examiner was a daily newspaper published in Barrie, Ontario from 1864 to 2017.

Postmedia Network Canada Corp. is a foreign-owned Canadian-based media conglomerate consisting of the publishing properties of the former Canwest, with primary operations in English-language newspaper publishing, news gathering and Internet operations. It is best known for being the owner of the National Post and the Financial Post. The company is headquartered at Postmedia Place on Bloor Street in Toronto.

<i>StarMetro</i> (newspaper) Defunct chain of Canadian free daily newspapers

StarMetro was a chain of Canadian free daily newspapers published in Calgary, Edmonton, Halifax, Toronto, and Vancouver. The chain was a joint venture between the Canadian publishing conglomerate Torstar and Swedish global media company Metro International. The chain was originally branded as Metro prior to rebranding on April 10, 2018. StarMetro was not affiliated with the French-language Métro newspaper published by TC Transcontinental in Montreal.

The Exeter Lakeshore Times-Advance is a weekly local newspaper, published in the town of Exeter, Ontario. It serves the counties of Huron, Middlesex, and Lambton. It was established in 1873 as the Exeter Times-Advocate.

<i>Welland Tribune</i> Canadian daily newspaper

The Welland Tribune is a daily newspaper that services Welland, Ontario and surrounding area. The Tribune was one of several Postmedia Network newspapers purchased by Torstar in a transaction between the two companies which concluded on November 27, 2017. The paper continues to be published by the Metroland Media Group subsidiary of Torstar. In late May 2020, Torstar accepted an offer for the sale of all of its assets to Nordstar Capital in late May 2020, a deal expected to close by year end.

iPolitics is a Canadian digital newspaper, which covers stories in Canadian politics. The site was launched in 2010 by James Baxter, and offers daily coverage of political news, a quarterly print magazine, political analysis podcasts, and specialized parliamentary monitoring services. It also runs Queen's Park (QP) Briefing, which focuses on Ontario political news.

References

  1. ↑ "Jordan Bitove takes immediate ownership of Torstar, Neil Oliver to become Torstar CEO". Toronto Star . 24 November 2022.
  2. ↑ Dana Flavelle (2010-11-26). "Major publishers invest in Canada's oldest news agency". Toronto Star . Retrieved 2015-11-25.
  3. ↑ "Postmedia to close community newspapers in Stratford, London, St. Thomas". CBC News. Retrieved 2017-11-27.
  4. ↑ "Torstar, Postmedia swap community papers, most to close". The Globe and Mail. Retrieved 2017-11-27.
  5. ↑ Faguy, Steve (2017-11-27). "Postmedia/Torstar deal results in almost 300 jobs lost as dozens of newspapers shut down" . Retrieved 2017-11-27.
  6. ↑ "'The alarm bells should go off:' Postmedia, Torstar deal will see 36 community papers closed". Financial Post. 2017-11-27. Retrieved 2017-11-30.
  7. ↑ Jackson, Emily (2018-03-22). "Competition Bureau's concerns over Postmedia-Torstar newspaper swap revealed in court filing". Financial Post. Retrieved 2018-04-06.
  8. ↑ "Torstar, Postmedia and the arrogance of the deal". The Globe and Mail. Retrieved 2018-04-06.
  9. ↑ Carney, Bryan (2019-02-05). "Torstar (Again) Blocks Release of Evidence in Conspiracy Case". The Tyee. Retrieved 2019-03-04.
  10. ↑ "Toronto Star owner Torstar to be sold, taken private in deal worth $51-million" . Retrieved 2020-07-28.
  11. ↑ "Canadian media company Torstar to be sold, privatized in $52M deal". Global News. Retrieved 2020-07-28.
  12. ↑ "Torstar agrees to $52M sale to NordStar Capital". CBC. 2020-05-26. Retrieved 2020-05-27. recommended by a special committee of Torstar's board of directors and has the support of the majority of its shareholders and its largest independent shareholder, Fairfax Financial Holdings Ltd.
  13. ↑ "NordStar raises offer for Torstar, secures key shareholder support" . Retrieved 2020-07-28.
  14. ↑ "Surprise $60-million bid from NordStar locks up acquisition of Torstar". Toronto Star. Retrieved 2020-07-12.
  15. ↑ "Shareholders have given a proposed $60 million takeover of the Toronto Star's publisher their seal of approval". St Catharines Standard. Retrieved 2020-07-21.
  16. ↑ "Strong shareholder support for Torstar takeover will 'carry a lot of weight' in court approval, experts say". thestar.com. 2020-07-22. Retrieved 2020-07-28.
  17. ↑ George-Cosh, David (2020-07-21). "Torstar shareholders vote in favour of NordStar takeover - BNN Bloomberg". BNN. Retrieved 2020-07-28.
  18. ↑ "Torstar trust member critical of deal to sell paper" . Retrieved 2020-07-28.
  19. ↑ "Judge approves NordStar's $60-million takeover of Torstar" . Retrieved 2020-07-28.
  20. ↑ "Canadian media company Torstar to be sold, privatized in $52M deal". Global News. 2020-05-26. Retrieved 2020-05-27. Torstar owns the Toronto Star, Hamilton Spectator, Waterloo Region Record, St. Catharines Standard, three other dailies and some 70 weeklies.
  21. ↑ "Struggling Torstar wagers $200-million on a niche digital company". The Globe and Mail. 29 July 2015. Retrieved 31 July 2015.
  22. ↑ "VerticalScope Closes 125 Million Initial Public Offering". News Wire. 21 June 2021. Retrieved 21 June 2021.
  23. ↑ "Toronto Star Shutters Star Touch, lays off 30 staff". FinancialPost. 2017-06-28. Retrieved May 27, 2020.
  24. ↑ "Toronto Star To Shutter $20-Million Tablet App". Huffington Post Canada. 2020-06-26. Retrieved 2020-05-27. Thirty employees will lose their jobs, Aleksandra Sagan Canadian Press
  25. ↑ "Jordan Bitove takes immediate ownership of Torstar, Neil Oliver to become Torstar CEO". Toronto Star. 2022-11-24. Retrieved 2022-11-24.
  26. ↑ "Is spinoff in the cards?". Financial Post. Archived from the original on 4 March 2016. Retrieved 31 July 2015.
  27. ↑ "Media Classified acquires City Parent magazine from Metroland Media". thestar.com. January 2, 2020.
  28. ↑ Kiladze, Tim (13 September 2010). "Torstar walks away from BCE-CTV smiling". The Globe and Mail . Retrieved 6 September 2012.
  29. ↑ "News Corp. to Buy Harlequin for $415M". ABC News. May 2, 2014. Retrieved May 2, 2014.
  30. ↑ Greenfield, Jeremy Greenfield (May 2, 2014). "News Corp Acquires Harlequin, Adds to HarperCollins Portfolio". Digital Book World. Archived from the original on November 15, 2016. Retrieved September 13, 2015.
This page is based on this Wikipedia article
Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.