The sale of the Observer, the world’s oldest Sunday newspaper, to Tortoise Media has been agreed in principle.
The announcement by the Scott Trust, the ultimate owner of the Guardian and Observer, came as it also revealed that it would invest in Tortoise to become a key shareholder and take a seat on both the editorial and commercial boards of the media company.
The Trust said the new ownership model would “protect the Observer’s future, championing the voice of liberal values and investing in exceptional journalism while building its digital offering”.
“We knew we needed the right combination of resources and commitment to build a new platform for the Observer,” said the Scott Trust chair, Ole Jacob Sunde.
“It required an ally to be sufficiently funded, long-term in nature and respect editorial independence and liberal values. I believe we have found this in Tortoise Media. We are looking forward to being part of the next phase in the Observer’s journey.”
National Union of Journalists general secretary-elect Laura Davison said members of the Guardian and Observer, who took industrial action this week in protest at the proposed deal, would be “extremely disappointed”. It had called for a pause in the negotiations.
The deal, now agreed in principle, will result in £25m of new investment in the Observer, with a commitment to print on a Sunday and a plan to build it into a digital brand. The Scott Trust will join new and existing investors it said were committed for the long term.
Staff have been told there will be no job losses as a result of the deal. Observer staff have been told they can also opt to take voluntary redundancy on enhanced terms. If they transfer to Tortoise, their existing terms and conditions will be honoured.
Tortoise was launched in 2019 by James Harding, the former editor of the London Times and former director of news at the BBC; and the former US ambassador to the UK, Matthew Barzun.
Harding has said the sale offers the chance to invest in and extend the Observer’s legacy.
Tortoise has promised to combine the Observer with Tortoise podcasts, newsletters and live events and invest in making it a standalone digital brand.
News of Tortoise’s approach for the Observer emerged in September.
Earlier this week, Guardian and Observer journalists who are members of the National Union of Journalists staged a 48-hour strike in protest at the proposed deal.
Charles Gurassa, the chair of the Guardian Media Group board, said: “This is an important new chapter for the Observer, giving it access to much-needed investment, enabling it to build a long overdue digital presence and ensuring it the top-level management support and focus necessary for it to flourish. For the Guardian, it means we can double down on our long-term growth strategy, as we continue to expand globally and across digital and other media channels.”
Katharine Viner, the editor-in-chief of the Guardian, said: “I recognise how unsettling this period has been for Observer staff, but we’re confident we have agreed the best possible way forward for the title’s journalists, readers and the future of both the Observer and the Guardian. It is a model that will see investment in journalism and journalists, enshrines the Scott Trust’s values in the Observer’s future, and protects the Observer and Guardian’s ability to continue to produce trusted, liberal journalism.”
The Guardian Media Group chief executive, Anna Bateson, said the investment would “preserve the Observer’s 233-year legacy and protect the paper’s future, ensuring it can continue producing exceptional liberal journalism, online and in print, for years to come”.
She added: “Underpinning it all will be a continued commitment to promoting a free press and maintaining editorial independence. The deal also supports the long-term success of the Guardian, building on our growth globally and across digital, as we continue to put readers at the heart of our outstanding journalism.”
The Scott Trust will take a place on both the company’s board, chaired by Barzun, and its independent editorial board, chaired by Sir Richard Lambert, the former editor of the Financial Times.
Harding said: “We are honoured and excited at the prospect of working together to renew the Observer, a name that represents the best of liberal, pioneering journalism. We admire its temperament, both tolerant and humane. We love its appetite for the arts and, of course, food. We promise its readers we will do all we can to live up to its history as a defender of human dignity and to give it a new lease of life as a powerful, progressive voice in the world.”
Barzun said: “This process revealed the enormous regard and passionate connection so many have to the world’s oldest Sunday newspaper. I am deeply appreciative of our investor partners, including the Scott Trust, all of whom expect the highest quality independent journalism. We are filled with an awesome sense of responsibility as we become a part of its long story and participants in sharing the stories it will long keep telling.”
Lambert said: “The Observer matters. In a noisy marketplace, it has an independent and progressive voice, covering ideas and stories that don’t get proper attention elsewhere. Its editorial comments are shaped by its journalists rather than by other interests. These values must be supported, and I’m keen to do anything I can to help.”
Davison said: “Members at the Guardian and Observer will be angry and extremely disappointed that the Scott Trust and GMG boards have chosen to approve the deal in principle to sell The Observer to Tortoise Media despite the union’s call for more time to consider this and other options.
“The timing of the decision, before the end of two extremely well-supported days of action, is particularly shabby.”
