Canadian media giant Torstar Corp., publisher of the Toronto Star, said today it will buy nearly a 20 percent share of Black Press Ltd., owner of the Honolulu Star-Bulletin and MidWeek.
invests in Black Press
The owner of the Toronto Star
takes a 19 percent stake hereStar-Bulletin staff
Torstar Corp. said it will pay $12.6 million for a 19.35 percent share of Victoria, British Columbia-based Black Press, which has annual revenues of about $157.5 million and also owns 87 newspapers in western Canada and Washington state.
Publicly held Torstar, which had 2001 revenues of $882 million, is traded on the Toronto Stock Exchange. The company owns several daily newspapers in addition to the Star, Canada's biggest daily, as well as Internet-related businesses and a group called Metroland Printing, Publishing and Distributing that runs some 68 community newspapers in Southern Ontario.
Torstar also owns Harlequin Enterprises, a worldwide publisher of romance fiction.
David Black, chief executive officer and owner of Black Press, started his newspaper career with Torstar before leaving in 1975 to buy his father's newspaper in Williams Lake, B.C. Black Press bought the Star-Bulletin in March 2001.
"Torstar is a steady, long-term participant in the industry, run by knowledgeable, passionate newspaper people with strong principles," Black said. "One couldn't hope for better investors and partners."
Black said later that the investment brings people to the Black Press board who have metropolitan daily newspaper experience. "It won't have any direct effect on the Star-Bulletin," he said.
In the press statement, Rob Prichard, president and chief executive officer of Torstar, said the company is happy to invest in Black's business.
"David Black is one of the finest operators of community newspapers in Canada," he said. "We believe there will be good opportunities to help grow Black Press in the years ahead and thereby add a significant new market to Torstar's reach.
"This investment is in a business we know extremely well through our highly successful Metroland community newspaper division and we look forward to maximizing our investment through mutual cooperation."