Her newest message to employees comes shortly earlier than they’re attributable to be balloted on strike motion amid unhappiness about the way in which the sale has been dealt with.
“I know it is an unsettling time and the available information cannot be complete, as we are still in discussions,” Ms Bateson wrote.
She vowed that the Scott Belief, which successfully owns GMG, would retain a small stake in The Observer if the sale takes place.
“It became clear that this was a serious offer that could create a more sustainable business strategy for the Observer.”
He has confirmed talks to boost £25m from new and current shareholders to put money into The Observer.
“The Observer would be the brand for the media organisation and all the existing sections – Observer Magazine, New Review and OFM – would be retained,” Ms Bateson wrote on Thursday.
She added: “Negotiations are ongoing and there will be a decision on the deal before Christmas.
“We envisage that if the deal goes forward, there shall be a transition interval, beginning within the new 12 months, that may run over months to make the method as clean as attainable.
“And there would continue to be some shared services, including printing and distribution.”
If the deal proceeds, it might symbolize the primary change in possession of The Observer, which was first printed in 1791, in over three many years.
Ms Bateson moved to handle that criticism on Thursday, saying that “The Scott Trust exists unambiguously to support the Guardian” and citing minutes from a 1993 board assembly.
“The Scott Trust has sought commercial and financial sustainability for the Observer since it first bought it in 1993, including attempts to integrate it more closely with the Guardian in 2009, after the idea of closing the paper was floated and then rejected by the Scott Trust,” she wrote.
“But the Observer has never been covered by the protections of ‘in perpetuity’ that apply to the Guardian.”
Ms Bateson warned staff that if the sale to Tortoise Media collapsed, “the status quo is not an option”, with “difficult choices” needing to be made “urgently”.
“We want to be plain about this because we all have a responsibility to be honest about the growth prospects of a UK-only, Sunday, print title when it is competing with investment in the future of the Guardian,” she wrote.
“If shared costs, such as technology, ad sales, marketing, rent, finance and HR as well as sport, international and business journalism, were allocated, the Observer would already be loss-making.”
The GMG chief additionally insisted that the corporate was “in constructive talks with the [trade unions] NUJ and Unite about the potential sale and its impact on staff.
“We now have heard from the unions that there are a number of areas of concern in relation to the potential affect on employees.
“These talks are ongoing and we hope to be able to respond to areas of concerns that have been raised.”
Final month, an open letter signed by main figures from the humanities and tradition together with Invoice Nighy, Hugh Grant, Mary Beard and Ralph Fiennes labelled the potential deal “disastrous”.
“While figures of £100m are being bid for other publications [a reference to the recent sale of The Spectator magazine], this poorly funded approach sets the value of the Observer at or near zero,” the letter stated.
GMG declined to remark additional on the message to employees.
