Posted on 09/27/2008 5:36:40 PM PDT by abb
The McClatchy Co., facing falling revenue and profit, renegotiated its bank loans Friday to win greater financial flexibility.
While the company says it's in no danger of defaulting or missing a debt payment, it was seeking greater latitude from its lenders.
"The impact of the current environment on our cash flows necessitated taking the initiative," Chief Financial Officer Pat Talamantes said in a news release.
But the agreement comes at a price. The Bee's owner will have to pay a higher interest rate. Its line of credit has been scaled back. And it could be prohibited from paying any shareholder dividends under certain circumstances, although that ban wouldn't take effect until next spring.
The deal is in response to a significant slide in revenue and profit, a trend that's humbling newspaper publishers everywhere. Sacramento-based McClatchy carries the added burden of about $2 billion in debt remaining from its 2006 takeover of Knight Ridder Inc. The debt includes $1.175 billion in bank loans and available lines of credit.
Tom Corbett, an analyst at Chicago investment research firm Morningstar Inc., called the agreement a positive step.
"A company that's as highly leveraged as McClatchy can use all the financial flexibility they can get," he said. "The tourniquet is not quite as tight."
McClatchy stock jumped 50 cents a share in after-hours trading, to $5, after the bank deal was announced. In regular New York Stock Exchange trading, it closed at $4.50, up 25 cents.
snip
(Excerpt) Read more at sacbee.com ...
http://biz.yahoo.com/ap/080926/mcclatchy_credit_agreement.html?.v=3
As ads drop, McClatchy gets flexibility with banks
http://www.editorandpublisher.com/eandp/news/article_display.jsp?vnu_content_id=1003855855
McClatchy Makes Deal With Lenders to Avoid Default
ping
That too funny LOL!
Bailing out their friends I see and is this the truth.
And how much was the reduction in pay for the executives.
Die die die die die die DIE!
More than just the usual agreement on a host of liberal policies that is shared by rats and the msm -- in this election the very survival of the msm is on the line. If the msm can get a marxist into the White House along with big rat majorities in Congress, there's a good chance they could get a Dinosaur Media bailout package passed which would include billions of taxpayer dollars for the msm along with enforcement of the Fairness Doctrine. In short, the entire msm would become NPR.
On the other hand, without the obamessiah, the hatchet will fall hard on the msm in 2009.
Idea already floated a year ago.
http://www.cjr.org/feature/the_uncle_sam_solution.php?page=all
The Uncle Sam Solution
Can the government help the press? Should it?
By Bree Nordenson
Add the “Idaho Statesman” to that list as well.
Heh heh heh :) Maybe they can keep the lights on if their remaining employees all simultaneously donate blood and one kidney each!
This is a failure we can all look forward to hoping of course Democrats don’t have a plan to bail them out too.
One of the finance guys on CNN tonight who was arguing against the bailout made the point that if McClatchy could get refinanced the credit crisis couldn’t be that bad.
Nice to know they’re so well thought of >:-)
http://online.wsj.com/article/SB122245998476279769.html
McClatchy Bank Deal Eases Threat of Default
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