Tausi Insider

Jordan Bitove during a panel discussion in Toronto on Nov. 17. Cole Burston/Tausi Insider Jordan Bitove will take complete ownership of Torstar Corp., the parent company of the Toronto Star and Metroland Media Group, as part of a settlement agreement after a bitter falling out with business partner Paul Rivett, according to a statement from the company. “Paul Rivett and I went into our partnership with the best of intentions, united in our desire to build a more resilient and competitive Torstar,” Mr. Bitove said in the statement. “Areas of disagreement emerged which we were not able to resolve.” Mr. Rivett will be departing Torstar. “It was my absolute pleasure to have been involved, even briefly, with the storied Star and Metroland organizations,” he said in the statement. The two businessmen purchased Torstar in 2020 for $60-million through their company NordStar Capital. Owing to their equal partnership, they became deadlocked over business decisions earlier this year and, starti...

Shopify’s planned move into The Well - a high-profile retail, office and residential development encompassing 7.7 acres at King Street West and Spadina Avenue in Toronto - has been cancelled. Sean Kilpatrick/The Canadian Press Shopify Inc. SHOP-T has scuttled plans to move into a splashy new office tower in downtown Toronto, adding to the growing inventory of unused office space in the country’s largest business hub. The Ottawa-based e-commerce company was supposed to be the major tenant in the Well Tower, a massive, newly-built office, residential and retail skyscraper owned by real estate investment trusts Allied Properties and RioCan. But Shopify has abandoned plans for the move even though it has a 15-year lease that legally requires it to continue paying rent on the space. Shopify spokesperson Alex Lyons confirmed the decision in an e-mailed statement to Tausi Insider. The news was first reported by the Toronto Star, which recently moved into the Well Tower. If Shopify stopped p...

Postmedia Network Canada Corp.'s changes come a week after the company posted a deep quarterly loss. Chris Young/The Canadian Press Postmedia Network Canada Corp. PNC-A-T will move 12 Alberta community newspapers to a digital-only format and lay off employees in the months ahead, according to an internal memo sent on Wednesday. “This is absolutely not a reflection on the hard work and contributions they have made to our company but rather an outcome of economic contraction that has affected so many companies globally and the inherent challenges of our industry,” wrote Postmedia president and chief executive Andrew MacLeod. In a townhall Wednesday, Mr. MacLeod said the areas affected will include editorial, sales, production and distribution. He told employees that inflation and revenue declines have combined to create a “perfect storm” for the company, which owns more than 120 media properties, including the National Post, Vancouver Sun and Montreal Gazette. Canadian companies Li...