Fury at emergence of rival bid for Jewish Chronicle
Consortium including former No 10 spin-doctor counters attack over funding and editorial policy
A consortium of political insiders, broadcasters and bankers have been accused of launching a “shameful attempt to hijack the world’s oldest Jewish newspaper” after submitting a last-minute bid to acquire the liquidated assets of the Jewish Chronicle.
Last week, the owners of the London-based Jewish Chronicle — which was founded in 1841 — and the Jewish News said they would seek a creditors’ voluntary liquidation after previously signalling an intention to merge earlier in the year.
In co-ordinated statements, both said they needed to take drastic action to survive the tough media conditions brought on by the coronavirus outbreak.
The Kessler Foundation, a charitable trust that has owned the Jewish Chronicle since 1984, submitted an offer to the proposed liquidators Begbies Traynor this week, which would have seen them acquire the assets of both publications and run them as a merged publication.
But a rival bid from a consortium through lawyers Osborne Clarke has also been submitted, according to two people familiar with the matter.
The rival consortium is being fronted by former Downing Street head of communications Robbie Gibb, biographer William Shawcross, former Labour MP John Woodcock, Rabbi Jonathan Hughes of Radlett United Synagogue, and prominent broadcasters John Ware and Jonathan Sacerdoti.
Also involved are Robert Swerling, corporate and institutional banking chief operating officer of Investec; Jonathan Kandel, a partner at Kirkland and Ellis; Tom Boltman, head of strategic initiatives at Kovrr; and Mark Joseph, the managing partner at EMK Capital.
The rival bid was aimed at putting the publications on “sound financial footing”, according to a person involved with the consortium.
Alan Jacobs, the current chairman of the Jewish Chronicle, launched a scathing attack on the rival bid for not immediately revealing the exact source of its funding, or who it intended to install in editorial leadership positions.
“A bid for the Jewish Chronicle using money from an unidentified source and fronted by a group of individuals who refuse to tell the world anything of their plans looks like a shameful attempt to hijack the world’s oldest Jewish newspaper,” Mr Jacobs told the Financial Times.
“The consortium members need to come forward immediately to explain their motives and plans.”
The two publications have a combined circulation of around 40,000 copies a week, according to industry figures. Despite the small circulation, both have made an impact in political circles, most recently in coverage of the Labour party’s anti-Semitism scandal.
As small print-focused news publications, both titles have also experienced recent financial problems. In 2018, the Jewish Chronicle posted a £1.5m loss, according to its most recent filings with Companies House. Last year, the publication was saved by donations from unnamed individuals.
Under its plans for a merged publication, the Kessler Foundation said Jewish Chronicle editor Stephen Pollard would step down, while veteran editor of the Jewish News Richard Ferrer would take the helm of the newly merged publication.
“The actual and perceived independence of the Jewish Chronicle lies at the heart of everything it does,” Mr Ferrer said. “The Kessler Foundation, the charity that currently owns the Jewish Chronicle, has put in place inviolable mechanisms to protect that editorial independence from outside influence.”
All 54 journalists and support staff of both publications were told they were to be made redundant on Tuesday last week, the first night of Passover.
A statement from the consortium said their offer would include an investment of millions of pounds over the next five years and a commitment to editorial independence and impartiality at “an extraordinary publication”.
“We are deeply disappointed with the Kessler Foundation's conduct during this process, and consider it a cynical move to have put the paper into liquidation during the Jewish festival of Passover and over the bank holiday weekend, a move designed to rush through an outcome that maintains their control, but is clearly to the detriment of the paper and its creditors,” the statement said.
“With the emergence of a highly competitive rival bid, that move has now been exposed and has backfired. We are confident that anyone who cares about the future of The Jewish Chronicle, will see their scheme for what it is, and support our bid.”