A top Canadian investment firm that wants to purchase Torstar Corp. has raised its bid in a bid to respond to a rival offer for the media outfit.
NordStar Capital LP has changed its agreement to buy the owner of the Toronto Star and other community newspapers and said it would now pay $60 million instead of the initially agreed $52 million.
The offer of 74 cents per share translates to a 17.5 per cent increase over its initial price of 63 cents per share.
NordStar, a firm managed by Paul Rivett and Jordan Bitove wants to take Torstar private.
Torstar confirmed recently that it had received a potentially higher second offer and said the offer was unsolicited.
Rivett and Bitove initially said they did not plan to up their bid in response.
Bitove said in a written statement that he and his partners feel they are “best able to ensure a future for world-class journalists and world-class journalism befitting the Star’s storied history.”
“This was not an opportunity we were going to let pass,” he wrote.
Shareholders will vote on the transaction at a meeting scheduled to hold soon.
