The Guardian Media Group (GMG) is in talks to sell The Observer to a start-up founded by former BBC News director James Harding.
GMG is in negotiations to sell its Sunday newspaper to Tortoise Media, Sky News first reported.
Tortoise was founded by Mr Harding, the former editor of The Times, as a “slow news” organisation in 2018. He founded the business after leaving the BBC, where he was director of BBC News between 2013 and 2018.
First published in 1791, The Observer is the world’s oldest Sunday newspaper. It was acquired by GMG in 1993, effectively functioning as the Sunday paper edition of The Guardian. The Observer currently has a circulation of 105,000.
Confirming the talks, Mr Harding called The Observer “one of the greatest names in news” and promised to “honour the values and standards set under the Guardian’s great stewardship”.
He added: “George Orwell described the Observer as ‘the enemy of nonsense’; we’re excited to show readers, old and new, that it still is.”
Katharine Viner, The Guardian editor-in-chief, said in a statement: “This has the potential to be a very positive thing for both The Observer and The Guardian. My number one priority is a future in which both titles continue to thrive and deliver high-quality journalism to our readers.”
News of The Observer’s possible sale came as The Guardian revealed that it burned through tens of millions of pounds in cash last year as it grappled with an advertising slump and the cost of its US expansion.
The Left-leaning newspaper on Tuesday announced that its cash outflow hit £36.5m in 2023/24, a 73pc increase on the previous year. The organisation said the increased cash spend reflected its planned investment into its US operation and European edition of the newspaper to increase its international reach.
It also cited planned spending on technology and product investment, including the launch of The Guardian’s new cooking app.
The Guardian’s overall revenue sank 2.5pc to £257.8m amid a slowdown in the advertising market and “sustained structural pressures on print”.
However, the newspaper grew its online reader revenue 8pc to £88.2m, more than half of which comes outside of the UK.