Brown Publishing newspapers sale to lenders approved by bankruptcy court
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Brown Publishing newspapers sale to lenders approved by bankruptcy court
Brown Publishing Co.’s bank lenders are taking over the Ohio-based chain of 15 dailies and numerous other publications under an order signed Friday, Sept. 3 by the judge overseeing its bankruptcy case, Editor and Publisher has reported.
Brown Publishing operates The Times-Gazette and County Shopper in Hillsboro, whose office had a "closed" sign posted on Friday.
According to the order, Ohio Community Media LLC – a corporation formed by the banks owed $74 million by Brown Publishing – are buying nearly all Brown Publishing’s assets for $21.75 million in the form of a credit bid, that is, using some of the debt the banks are owed rather than cash, E&P's Mark Fitzgerald reports.
E&P said the newly formed Ohio Community Media includes PNC Bank, Prudential Insurance Co., Wells Fargo Bank, Allied Irish Bank, AIB Debt Management, Brown Brothers and Harriman, and Huntington National Bank.
"Judge Dorothy Eisenberg also approved a separate sale of Brown Publishing’s Dan’s Papers Inc., a chain of newspapers on Long Island, N.Y. A company called Dan’s Papers Holdings LLC is buying the cluster for $1.75 million, according to the order," E&P reported.
The sale appears to bring to a formal end to the attempt by Brown Publishing CEO Roy Brown and two other top company executives to buy the chain of 15 dailies, 32 paid weeklies, 11 business journals and numerous other publications that they brought into Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection earlier this year.
As previously reported, the Brown insiders, incorporated as Brown Media, won the auction in July with a bid of $22.4 million, but were unable to close the sale when their financial backer walked away from the deal. PNC was the second-highest bidder, according to court filings. PNC led a bank group that was owed $74 million.
Brown Publishing has owned and operated area publications including The Times-Gazette and County Shopper in Hillsboro, as well as newspapers in surrounding counties, including: The Wilmington News Journal and Star Republican, The Record Herald in Washington C.H., The People's Defender in West Union, The News Democrat in Georgetown and The Ripley Bee.
A report in The Columbus Dispatch said Fred Solomon, vice president of corporate communication for the PNC Financial Services Group, declined to comment and attorneys for Brown Publishing did not return a call seeking comment.
Brown Publishing Co.’s bank lenders are taking over the Ohio-based chain of 15 dailies and numerous other publications under an order signed Friday, Sept. 3 by the judge overseeing its bankruptcy case, Editor and Publisher has reported.
Brown Publishing operates The Times-Gazette and County Shopper in Hillsboro.
According to the order, Ohio Community Media LLC – a corporation formed by the banks owed $74 million by Brown Publishing – are buying nearly all Brown Publishing’s assets for $21.75 million in the form of a credit bid, that is, using some of the debt the banks are owed rather than cash, E&P's Mark Fitzgerald reports.
E&P said the newly formed Ohio Community Media includes PNC Bank, Prudential Insurance Co., Wells Fargo Bank, Allied Irish Bank, AIB Debt Management, Brown Brothers and Harriman, and Huntington National Bank.
"Judge Dorothy Eisenberg also approved a separate sale of Brown Publishing’s Dan’s Papers Inc., a chain of newspapers on Long Island, N.Y. A company called Dan’s Papers Holdings LLC is buying the cluster for $1.75 million, according to the order," E&P reported.
The sale appears to bring to a formal end to the attempt by Brown Publishing CEO Roy Brown and two other top company executives to buy the chain of 15 dailies, 32 paid weeklies, 11 business journals and numerous other publications that they brought into Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection earlier this year.
As previously reported, the Brown insiders, incorporated as Brown Media, won the auction in July with a bid of $22.4 million, but were unable to close the sale when their financial backer walked away from the deal. PNC was the second-highest bidder, according to court filings. PNC led a bank group that was owed $74 million.
Brown Publishing has owned and operated area publications including The Times-Gazette and County Shopper in Hillsboro, as well as newspapers in surrounding counties, including: The Wilmington News Journal and Star Republican, The Record Herald in Washington C.H., The People's Defender in West Union, The News Democrat in Georgetown and The Ripley Bee.
A report in The Columbus Dispatch said Fred Solomon, vice president of corporate communication for the PNC Financial Services Group, declined to comment and attorneys for Brown Publishing did not return a call seeking comment.
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