Freedom Communications exits bankruptcy protection with less debt, new owners
By APMonday, May 3, 2010
Freedom Communications exits bankruptcy protection
IRVINE, Calif. — Media company Freedom Communications is out of bankruptcy protection.
Creditors led by JPMorgan Chase have cut Freedom’s debt by nearly 60 percent to $325 million in return for control of the company. Among those getting a stake is Angelo, Gordon & Co., a firm that recently gained shares of newspapers in Minneapolis and Philadelphia through bankruptcy cases.
Freedom Communications owns The Orange County Register in California, more than two dozen other dailies and eight TV stations. It filed for bankruptcy protection in September amid steep advertising declines.
That wiped out stakes held by Blackstone Group LP, Providence Equity Partners and descendants of Freedom founder R.C. Hoiles.
Burl Osborne, interim CEO since last June, is remaining until the company finds a permanent successor.
Tags: California, Chase, Irvine, North America, United States
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May 3, 2010: 10:11 pm
ATL needs to do a story about how many lawyers endured through 20 hour per days and 300+ hour per months, how many relationships crumbled due to the absence and stress related to lawyers trying to help save a company, how getting a car service to take you home at 4 a.m. is not a pleasure but a must because the lawyer is so fatigued that she might not make it home if they chose to drive themselves, use a taxi or some form of public transportation. |
Bankruptman