Local daily’s parent, GateHouse, files for bankruptcy | The Rock River Times

By Brandon Reid
Senior Assistant Editor

GateHouse Media Inc., debt-riddled parent company of local daily newspaper the Rockford Register Star, has filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy, the company announced Sept. 27.

Following is part of a press release issued by the company:

Concurrently with the bankruptcy filing, GateHouse filed and requested confirmation of a joint prepackaged plan of reorganization.

GateHouse announced on September 11, 2013, that it had entered into a plan support agreement with the administrative agent and certain lenders under its 2007 secured credit facility, including certain affiliates of GateHouse, which contemplated a comprehensive restructuring of approximately $1.2 billion of debt scheduled to come due in August 2014.

According to Michael Reed, director and chief executive officer, the bankruptcy filing was a strategic decision to facilitate this restructuring, and not a reflection of any operational difficulties on the part of GateHouse.

“We have complied with and are current with all our obligations,” he said, “but with the challenges facing our industry and the impending maturity of our secured debt next year, we needed to be proactive in exploring options to restructure our debt, recapitalize, and position ourselves for future growth. The prepackaged plan proposes a ‘balance-sheet restructuring,’ by which GateHouse will emerge from bankruptcy with much less debt on its balance sheet, but with its business operations completely intact. Upon emergence, we will be under common ownership with Local Media Group, a company with a strong community media presence and performance that operates eight daily community newspapers and thirteen weeklies. Joining with Local Media Group will be an important step in growing our business and will contribute to our future success as the pre-eminent source for locally focused content, covering and serving our subscribers, advertisers and customers through print, online and other digital products, including mobile applications.”

Pursuant to its plan support agreement, GateHouse solicited votes on the plan over the past week from holders of claims under its 2007 secured credit facility and certain related interest rate swaps. The plan was accepted by the only impaired class of creditors entitled to vote on it. Specifically, 79 out of the 80 holders of secured debt entitled to vote holding an aggregate amount of $1,199,317,153 (representing 99.99% of the total secured debt) voted to accept the plan. No creditors voted to reject the plan.

Pension, trade and all other unsecured creditors of GateHouse would not be impaired under the prepackaged plan, and their votes were not solicited. GateHouse’s common stock would be canceled under the plan, and holders of secured debt would have the option of receiving a cash distribution equal to 40% of their claims, or stock in New Media Investment Group Inc., a new holding company that will own GateHouse and Local Media Group.

GateHouse, which operates in 330 markets across 21 states, intends to continue to operate its business without interruption as a “debtor-in-possession” under the jurisdiction of the bankruptcy court. According to Reed, GateHouse has sufficient cash to operate during the chapter 11 process and does not need, nor does it intend to obtain, debtor-in-possession financing.

“We don’t believe our customers, vendors, or employees will notice any change on our day-to-day operations as a result of the bankruptcy,” he said. “From an operational standpoint, it’s business as usual.”

Houlihan Lokey Capital Inc. is acting as financial advisor to GateHouse, and Young Conaway Stargatt & Taylor, LLP is acting as its legal counsel. Additional information is available at GateHouse’s restructuring website at http://dm.epiq11.com/gatehousemedia.

GateHouse publishes nearly 90 daily and 265 weekly newspapers and employs about 4,100 people across 21 states. The company was delisted from the New York Stock Exchange in 2008. Stock was trading at 3 cents per share May 14, opened at 4.7 cents per share Sept. 4, and was trading at 5.8 cents Sept. 4. The stock was down to 2.6 cents per share Sept. 5.

The Rockford Register Star was sold by its previous parent, Gannett Co., Inc., to GateHouse as part of a $410 million deal April 12, 2007. The deal also included the GateHouse purchase of three other Gannett daily newspapers — the Norwich (Conn.) Bulletin, the Observer-Dispatch in Utica, N.Y., and The Herald-Dispatch in Huntington, W. Va. At the time of the purchase, GateHouse’s stock was trading at about $21 per share. The Freeport Journal-Standard is also owned by GateHouse.

Posted Sept. 27,

The above is taken from:  Local daily’s parent, GateHouse, files for bankruptcy | The Rock River Times

The Unruly of Law: Rusty GateHouse Media Headed Toward Pre-Packaged Bankruptcy Filing?

Posted by Sheldon Toplitt at 3:36

GateHouse, which is owned by Fortress Investment Group LLC, includes in its stable of more than 300 small daily and weekly papers the….The chain has enlisted Houlihan Lokey investment bank and a law firm specializing in restructuring to achieve its goal of eliminating the crushing debt, the Journal article noted.
GateHouse was delisted from the New York Stock Exchange in 2008 because of its shaky financial picture, which includes a $30 million drop in sales last year compared to 2011 figures. Fortress, a prominent creditor, bought GateHouse in 2005 for more than $500 million.

The Unruly of Law: Rusty GateHouse Media Headed Toward Pre-Packaged Bankruptcy Filing?

Daily’s parent company continues debt struggles | The Rock River Times

By Brandon Reid
Assistant Editor

The Wall Street Journal article added: “GateHouse has begun to informally ask creditors to forgive their debt for ownership stakes in a reworked company, or accept payments of 33 cents for every dollar they are owed, the people said. Should enough creditors go along with the plan, GateHouse could avoid bankruptcy court.

“If enough creditors balk, GateHouse is preparing to file a prepackaged bankruptcy, the people said. In a prepackaged Chapter 11 case, GateHouse would get approval from enough creditors ahead of time so that a judge could bless its debt restructuring plan and streamline the trip through bankruptcy court.

Click on the following for more details:  Daily’s parent company continues debt struggles | The Rock River Times

EDITORIAL Beloit Daily News: Let sun shine on payback

 

from: http://www.beloitdailynews.com/opinion/editorial-let-sun-shine-on-payback/article_779b6bb4-2beb-11e1-b1de-001871e3ce6c.html

Posted: Wednesday, December 21, 2011 4:00 pm

 

EDITORIAL: Let sun shine on payback

Another example of why alternative energy can be tough sell.

 

THOSE SOLAR PANELS on top of (Beloit) City Hall look all cool and high-tech, and presumably will win Beloit a few plaudits for going green and demonstrating environmental sensitivity.

But what about the math?

According to numbers provided to the Daily News by City Hall, the project carried a price tag of about $180,000. The 125 solar panels will produce a trickle of electricity — about 30 kilowatts at peak performance. Projections call for the panels to reduce the City Hall utility costs 8-9 percent, somewhere in the range of maybe $3,500 a year.

CRUNCH THOSE NUMBERS and this is what you get: Return on investment, or payback, will take more than 50 years.

And, by the way, the system is designed to last around 40 years.

In a nutshell, this is why alternative energy has such a tough time catching on in America. This is a bottom-line country, where hard-nosed business types crunch numbers with ferocity. Investments are made because the numbers add up and there’s a reasonable plan for a solid return. Sentimentality and wishful thinking don’t make the cut.

So solar panels with weak payback or electric cars that conk out every 40 miles have a tough time finding a market in the private sector.

Instead, panels wind up on government roofs.

What’s next? Electric fire engines?

DeKalb still mum on 3rd Ward candidates | Daily Chronicle

On Jan. 22, the Daily Chronicle submitted a request to the city, under the Freedom of Information Act, for records pertaining to applicants to the 3rd Ward vacancy, any correspondence between Mayor Kris Povlsen and sitting aldermen, and the appointment of Pam Verbic to the office. Under a new law, the denial must be pre-approved by the state’s Public Access Counselor, a position in the Illinois Attorney General’s office.

Public Access Counselor Smith said the attorney general’s office has asked the city for more information. She did not immediately know Monday what additional information was needed, but said a letter had been mailed Monday to the city and the Daily Chronicle. The city then has seven days to get that information to her office, Smith said.

Click on the following for more details: DeKalb still mum on 3rd Ward candidates | Daily Chronicle

Northwest Herald changes archive policy

The NW Herald is trying to raise more money from it archives.  Links to NW Herald stories older than seven days will no longer be available without a fee.  Because of this,  links to this source will be minimized. Older posting with the NW Herald will not be available without your payment of a fee.

Here’s the new policy:

The most recent 7 days of articles are available for free. For articles older than 7 days there is a small fee for retrieval from our archive.This archive has a variety of pricing options for purchasing articles.

To allow for flexibility, we offer a day pass and a week pass along with single article purchasing. You will be asked for your credit card information as part of the set up process.

When you are ready to purchase, you can choose from the following options.

Single article purchase = $2.95
You can choose to purchase one article at a time for $2.95 per article.
Each purchase is reflected as a single purchase on your credit card.
There are also a variety of other options for purchasing articles:

• 3 Pack: $6.95, one week duration
• 10 Pack: $21.95, one month duration
• 25 Pack: $49.95, one month duration
• 40 Pack: $79.95, one month duration
• 500 Pack: $995, one year duration
• 1,000 Pack: $1,995, one year duration

New York Times to Charge Frequent Readers of Web Site

    Starting in early 2011, visitors to NYTimes.com will get a certain number of articles free every month before being asked to pay a flat fee for unlimited access.

NYTimes.com is by far the most popular newspaper site in the country

better positioned than other general-interest papers to charge — and also gives The Times more to lose if the move backfires.

Click on the following for more details:  New York Times to Charge Frequent Readers of Web Site - NYTimes.com

DeKalb Daily Chronicle: Newspapers are still relevant

What newspapers are doing is changing. That paper in your driveway is something we’re proud of, but it’s only part of what we do. Local news now breaks on our Web site, in your e-mail inbox, or even in a text message or Twitter application on your phone.
We’re still doing what we’ve always done, just faster and in more formats

Read their full comments by clicking on the following:  Our View: Newspapers are still relevant | Daily Chronicle