Torstar invests in free dailies

Article Excerpt

TORSTAR CORP. $10.24 (Toronto symbol TS.B; Shares outstanding: 79.6 million; Market cap: $815.1 million; TSINetwork Rating: Above Average; Dividend yield: 4.9 %; www.torstar.com) formed a 50/50 joint venture with Sweden’s Metro International S.A. in 2005. This business publishes free daily newspapers for commuters in Toronto, Ottawa, Vancouver, Calgary and Edmonton. In April 2011, the joint venture launched new free papers in Winnipeg and London, Ontario. Torstar recently paid $51.5 million to increase its stake in this business to 90%. This makes it easier for Torstar to launch new free commuter papers and integrate them with its web sites. Torstar is a buy. buy…