RE:Responses and speculations and grapesI will provide my perspective in the order in which you provided your thoughts:
1) No error in the filings and it may very well be an estate issue that is being resolved. As a private sale it may show up in the annual filings when the families disclose their holdings.
2) NYT Company is NOT going to buy Torstar. They sold The Boston Globe a few years ago and took a significant haircut and buying Torstar would make no sense. Yes, they have a commercial relationship with Torstar, but going deeper into newspapers isn't go to happen, and most certainly not in Canada.
3) There are lots of valuations of Torstar and hiring an accountant to determine the value would only provide a data point that really doesn't matter. I have done a valuation that places a value north of $8/share in one of my earlier posts, but clearly the market places a value of $1.75 as of yesterday. There is no doubt the stock is trading at a substantial discount, but newspapers aren't sexy and the other parts like VerticalScope need to have higher visibility. Each quarter should reveal more of the unrealized value and the new CEO has a big job ahead of him to increase the share price and demonstrate the increased value to investors.
4) I believe the pressure will ratchet up significantly if the new CEO doesn't show some early and real progress. The members of the Voting Trust have to be extremely unhappy and the last 2 CEO's lost approximately 74% each of the share value over their tenure. The dividend has been cut repeatedly and the book of excuses has been exhausted. There will be lots of promises offered at the annual meeting in May, but I am sure some pissed off shareholders will ask some very pointed questions at the meeting.
5) If and when a takeover offer is disclosed there will be plenty of commentary on the fairness of the offer, Depending on your personal circumstances you should make a decision on selling or holding out for an improved offer. A lot will depend on the response from the Voting Trust. If they say they think it is fair and acceptable the probabality of a higher offer or white knight is extremely unlikely.
6) I am not sure that longer-term shareholders who have seen their investment shrink dramatically over the past decade would share your perspective on Torstar being a great company. I think Warren Buffett would look at management's performance and take a pass regardless of the underlying assets. If the new CEO can reverse the fortunes of the company and get them back on track you might feel good about hanging onto your shares. Great companies don't see their market cap go from more than $2 billion to $124 million in my world.
That's all I got....