The Gazette’s parent, Freedom Communications, is expected to exit from bankruptcy within six weeks. Under the company’s plan for reorganization, secured creditors led by JPMorgan Chase & Co. will own all of the company’s equity. That won’t last. The banks must, by law, divest themselves of their interests in the company within five years. In practice, [...]
Continue reading...Wednesday, December 23, 2009
The Gazette has abandoned its ambitious plans to publish its FreshInk as a four-day per week free tabloid newspaper and instead has relegated it to a once-a-week insert. FreshInk, launched during April of this year, was the brainchild of Gazette publisher Steve Pope, who reportedly told his staff at the time that FreshInk was intended to [...]
Continue reading...Wednesday, December 9, 2009
Peg Brickley’s blog on the Wall Street Journal’s Web site might be of interest to Colorado Springs residents. Titled “Bankruptcy Beat,” it’s devoted to Springs resident Tim Hoiles, who reportedly cashed out his 8.6 percent stake in the family business, Freedom Communications, which owns the Gazette, for a cool $142 million. He’s sitting pretty - and that’s why [...]
Continue reading...Monday, September 21, 2009
Here’s yet another twist in the convoluted saga of the bankruptcy filing of the Gazette’s parent, Freedom Communications. In the palmy days of yore, JP Morgan Chase, Freedom’s largest secured creditor, apparently had an insatiable appetite for short-term debt issued by now-forlorn media titans. The bank is also the lead secured creditor of two other media [...]
Continue reading...Friday, September 18, 2009
As I speculated, the Gazette’s bankrupt parent company, Freedom Communications, has begun the process of shedding assets. The East Valley Tribune reported yesterday: “Freedom Communications, parent company of the East Valley Tribune, has asked a bankruptcy court judge to allow the company to hire a broker in order to pursue the possible sale of the Tribune and [...]
Continue reading...Wednesday, September 16, 2009
Our sister publication, the Arizona Capitol Times, reported yesterday that just prior to declaring bankruptcy, Freedom Communications made a last-ditch effort to sell most, or all, of their Arizona pubs to a group of local investors. As Matt Bunk reported, “It’s not clear whether any agreement is under consideration now - there was a deadline to act [...]
Continue reading...Monday, August 31, 2009
For nothin’ left to lose. Yesterday afternoon, at 3:29 PM, the Wall Street Journal reported that Freedom Communications, the parent company of the Colorado Springs Gazette, would file for bankruptcy this week. How did I know the precise time that the WSJ reported the story? Because the Google alert, sent within microseconds of the WSJ web post, [...]
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Thursday, March 4, 2010
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