Postmedia signage is pictured at the head office in Toronto, on Wednesday, June 28, 2023. Postmedia Network Canada Corp. and Nordstar Capital LP, the company that owns the Toronto Star, say they have terminated discussions about a potential merger, saying they were unable to come to an agreement. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Andrew Lahodynskyj
TORONTO – Canadian media companies Postmedia Network Canada Corp. and Nordstar Capital LP, the company that owns the Toronto Star, have ended discussions about a potential merger, saying they were unable to come to an agreement.
Both companies issued press releases disclosing the change, with Torstar Corp., noting that the added backdrop of regulatory and financial uncertainty contributed to the talks ending.
The two companies announced in late June that they were in talks to merge in a deal that would have seen Postmedia and Metroland Media Group combine forces while the Toronto Star would be managed by a new company.
They had said the proposed deal would help them scale up in order to respond to the “existential threat” facing the media industry.
But experts sounded the alarm over what such a deal could do for local news coverage and for competition in journalism.
Postmedia laid off 11 per cent of its editorial staff earlier this year.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published July 10, 2023.
Companies in this story: (TSX:PNC.A)
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Torstar holds an investment in The Canadian Press as part of a joint agreement with subsidiaries of The Globe and Mail and Montreal’s La Presse.
