{"text":[[{"start":7.3,"text":"The Observer has raised £10mn to finance its plan to create a financially sustainable Sunday newspaper in a fundraise that has not been backed by the Scott Trust, the fund controlling its erstwhile sister title the Guardian."}],[{"start":20.72,"text":"Staff were told in a meeting at the Observer’s London offices on Tuesday about the new fundraising, which will provide financial security as it seeks to grow its digital subscriber base."}],[{"start":31,"text":"The 234-year-old title had to launch its own website, app, podcasts and digital video platform after being sold by the Guardian to start-up Tortoise Media in April last year."}],[{"start":42.4,"text":"The sale to Tortoise, founded by former BBC News boss James Harding, was backed by £25mn from a number of investors including the Scott Trust."}],[{"start":51.72,"text":"Since the deal, The Observer’s print circulation has fallen from about 114,000 to about 90,000. Harding has targeted 173,000 paying subscribers by 2029."}],[{"start":63.7,"text":"The Scott Trust will have its 9 per cent stake in the world’s oldest Sunday newspaper diluted after passing on the new equity raising, according to a person close to the situation."}],[{"start":73.6,"text":"Gary Lubner, the South African businessman and Labour Party donor, is set to increase his holding through This Day, his philanthropic fund. Other investors including Standard Investments have also taken part in the round."}],[{"start":86.6,"text":"Lubner, the former boss of vehicle windscreen repair company Autoglass, will become a substantial minority investor."}],[{"start":93.68,"text":"The Scott Trust will remain a shareholder and keep its seat on the board of the Observer. The Guardian Media Group also supplies print and distribution services for the paper. A spokesperson for the Guardian declined to comment."}],[{"start":106.32,"text":"In a statement confirming the fundraising, Harding, editor of the Observer and founder of Tortoise Media, said that it was “good news to have the backing of investors committed to its turnaround as a business and revival as an optimistic, liberal voice in the world”."}],[{"start":120.84,"text":"In a separate move, Lord Mark Malloch-Brown has been appointed as chair of the Observer, replacing Tortoise Media co-founder Matthew Barzun, who will remain on the board as vice chair."}],[{"start":128.28,"text":"Malloch-Brown previously ran the UN Development Programme before becoming the body’s deputy secretary-general under Kofi Annan. He also served as a minister in the Foreign Office in Gordon Brown’s government and was president of the Open Society Foundations."}],[{"start":144.48,"text":"Lord Malloch-Brown said: “I am of a generation that learned my internationalism from the pages of The Observer and its dynamic coverage of a postcolonial world.”"}],[{"start":160.04,"text":""}]],"url":"https://audio.ftcn.net.cn/album/a_1789519802_9607.mp3"}