Torstar signs agreement to purchase political website iPolitics

Torstar Corp. announced Thursday that it has signed an agreement to purchase some assets of Ottawa-based political website iPolitics Inc.

The deal is expected to close on or around Oct. 1.

In a written statement about the purchase, Torstar president and CEO John Boynton praised iPolitics for its “proven record of providing extensive online coverage of federal and provincial politics and government policies across Canada.”

The plan is to expand the Toronto Star’s coverage of politics while maintaining and expanding offerings on iPolitics.ca, said Boynton, who is also publisher of the Star.

“This unique opportunity will allow us to provide critical in-depth policy coverage from iPolitics along with the highly recognized reporting and opinion columns from the Toronto Star’s Ottawa team,” he said.

The two organizations will maintain separate Ottawa bureaus.

Founded in 2010 by editor James Baxter, iPolitics Inc. runs a network of digital and social media sites offering subscribers daily political news, a quarterly magazine, podcasts and parliamentary monitoring services.

It was not immediately clear what parts of the iPolitics organization are included in the sale.

“By teaming with the Toronto Star and Torstar’s other outlets, the iPolitics team will be able to reach more Canadians and work within an organization that has principles of public-service journalism at its core,” said Baxter in a statement about the sale.

TorStar already runs QP Briefing, a subscription-based digital and mobile news source covering Ontario politics and legislative news.