Guardian Media Group declined to engage with an alternative bid enquiry for The Observer on Tuesday, telling the interested party it could not speak to bidders because of its exclusivity terms with Tortoise Media.
The move comes despite Guardian Media Group’s owners The Scott Trust indicating they were still open to listening to other bids for The Observer.
Press Gazette understands that Guardian management do not see any contradiction between the two positions and they would still entertain a rival bid for The Observer if an offer was made.
Guardian owner The Scott Trust agreed in principle last week to sell The Observer to Tortoise Media for a nominal fee plus an investment of £5m in the new merged business.
With the deal yet to be signed, Trust chairman Ole Jacob Sunde was asked by The Sunday Times whether the company would still consider an alternative bid.
He said: “Of course, at any time in the process, you would listen to people coming to talk to you. And we will listen, as we have done with all the different bidders that have come.”
Press Gazette has seen an email sent by law firm GSC (acting on behalf of a potential bidder) sent to Guardian CEO Anna Bateson on Tuesday saying: “In light of the said comments, please confirm that exclusivity has been lifted and that you are prepared to consider exchange of information. We look forward to hearing from you.”
Bateson replied: “Thank you for your email of 10 December. The terms of our exclusivity with Tortoise Media are still in force and so we are not in a position to hold discussions with other potential bidders.”
Businessman Dale Vince, who has expressed an interest in buying The Observer and holding it in a trust, has said he was not given a proper opportunity to formulate a bid because The Scott Trust has been in exclusive negotiations since September. Before this time, it was not known that The Observer was for sale.
Exclusivity around the sale process is one source of complaint from Guardian and Observer staff who today (Thursday) started a second 48-hour strike.
Some 500 members of staff met on Wednesday to confirm their support for a second two-day strike and one person present said the feeling was “there is still everything to play for” regarding the future of The Observer.
On the subject of the Bateson email, an Observer source said: “We’re astonished that our CEO is telling us there are no other bids. We would rather the Observer remains at the Guardian but if we must be sold they have to scrutinise every bid.”
A Scott Trust spokesperson said: “We have not received bids containing any substantive detail from any party other than Tortoise Media. They will invest £25m into the Observer’s journalism, they have the infrastructure of a successful, existing newsroom with experienced journalists, they have a group of investors that are committed for the long term and they are honouring the liberal values and journalistic standards of the Scott Trust in their editorial code.”
She said: “A thorough scoping exercise was done at the outset of this process to understand who else might be a potential investor,” adding words echoing the Scott Trust statement.
On Wednesday night all six recipients of this year’s Scott Trust Bursary (a scheme which provides journalism training and paid work placements for those from under-represented groups) put their names to a statement offering solidarity with striking Guardian and Observer journalists.
The six said: “Over the last few weeks, we have watched, with increasing dismay, events unfolding at the Guardian Media Group, culminating in the Scott Tust’s agreement to the sale of The Observer to Tortoise Media, just hours after the conclusion of the first strike by journalists at GMG since 1971.
“As recipients of the Scott Trust Bursary for 2024, a scheme designed to ensure that UK newsrooms better reflect the UK itself, we were informed about the opportunities available to us at The Observer only days before plans to sell the Sunday paper were made public.”
They said: “Fencing off quality journalism behind paywalls is not the renewal that readers seek, nor the renewal that democracy needs.
“We, the undersigned, express our full solidarity with all workers and NUJ members on strike this week, especially those whose work and livlihoods are jeopardised by this rushed and ill-considered move,
“We thank everyone on the picket line and remind them that they are not only striking for themselves, but for a legacy and for future generations of journalists as well.”
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