St. Louis Post-Dispatch | Wall Street Journal
The owner of St. Louis Post-Dispatch and other newspapers scrapped the offering after reporting a $1.47 million loss for the March quarter. Lee CEO Mary Junck says a refinancing remains “among our highest priorities” and the company will pursue alternatives. “Although we were pleased with investor interest, the proposed offering did not result in terms and conditions that met our expectations or recognize the future we expect for Lee stockholders,” she says.
From the Wall Street Journal’s story (subscription required):
Lee, seeking to avoid filing for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection, pursued the bond sale to help it repay existing debt and push back its maturities. The company posted losses of $1.47 million in the first quarter on a 3.8% decline in revenue, reflecting a broader decline in print advertising. …
“There seem to be buyers for anything with yield on it, but a newspaper business with this much leverage is still a tough sell, even in this market,” said Neil Bizily, a senior analyst at Thrivent Financial for Lutherans, which has $70 billion under management.
> April 11: Lee on verge of saving itself from bankruptcy with junk bond sale
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