Former Sydney Morning Herald property editor Jonathan Chancellor buys Property Observer
Private Media has sold real estate news website Property Observer to its founding editor, former Sydney Morning Herald property editor Jonathan Chancellor.
Chancellor wrote for the SMH for 25 years before founding Property Observer with Eric Beecher’s Private Media in 2011.
Chancellor owned ten per cent of Property Observer, which was listed for sale in July 2014. With his purchase of the remaining 90 per cent, Chancellor will become publisher and owner of the niche website.
Jonathan Chancellor said, “Property Observer’s incubation at Private Media ensured its successful launch and longevity”.
“It is now time, as Property Observer clicks over into its fourth year, to have a singular focus from the team towards providing readers with more of what they want,” he said.
Private Media, which publishes Crikey, Smart Company and Women’s Agenda, was reported in the Australian Financial Review to have initially sought to sell Property Observer to Sydney business-to-business publisher Key Media for about $2 million.
Private Media’s CEO Jason Kibsgaard said while the business was “performing strongly”, they had decided the website could perform better under a standalone business model with editor as owner.
Property Observer appears set to transfer from Private Media’s Melbourne office to Sydney, where Chancellor is based.
Jack Fisher
