Torstar Corp. business partners Paul Rivett and Jordan Bitove have agreed to move their legal dispute to mediation-arbitration following “productive conversations” between the two parties.
A brief hearing was held Monday after Rivett filed an application to the Ontario Superior Court last month seeking a court order to wind up the media company, citing “irreparable” damage to his relationship with Bitove.
Rivett and Bitove are equal partners in Nordstar Capital Inc., an investment company that purchased Torstar in 2020 for $60 million, and controls all of its assets, including the Toronto Star newspaper.
Lawyers representing Rivett told the court Monday that the matter is the result of “two different visions” about how to navigate the business amid challenges facing the newspaper industry globally, describing it as a “a corporate divorce” between two former friends and business partners….