TORONTO – A Canadian investment firm attempting to purchase Torstar Corp. has upped its bid in response to a rival offer for the media conglomerate.

NordStar Capital LP has amended its agreement to purchase the owner of the Toronto Star and other community newspapers, saying it will now pay $60 million instead of the initially agreed-upon $52 million.

Its offer of 74 cents per share is a 17.5 per cent increase over its earlier price of 63 cents per share.

NordStar, a firm run by businessmen Paul Rivett and Jordan Bitove, intends to take Torstar private.

Torstar confirmed earlier this week that it had received a potentially superior second offer, which it said was unsolicited.

Rivett and Bitove previously said they had no plans to increase their bid in response.

In a written statement, Bitove said 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 set for July 21.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published July 11, 2020.

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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.

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