Journal Register Co. Files For Bankruptcy

 

NEW HAVEN, CT (February 23, 2009) – The parent company of the New Haven Register filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection on Saturday, but told readers that they intend to continue operations as normal throughout the process and to emerge "stronger, leaner, and more financially viable in the current environment."

The Journal Register Co., based in Yardley, PA, owns the Register and other newspapers. They said bankruptcy was necessary due to the ongoing slump in advertising sales along with decreased circulation and mounting debt.

In April the company's stock was delisted from the New York Stock Exchange and on Friday was trading for less than a penny a share.

In their bankruptcy filing the Journal Register Co. agreed to become a company that's controlled by its lenders, including JP Morgan Chase & Co. which is one of the 37 lenders holding the company's debt. At last report the Journal Register Co. had $692 million in debt and $596 million in assets, and in its filing said that revenue has gone down more than 20 percent since 2006.

With 3,500 employees, the Journal Register owns 20 daily and 159 other newspapers that serve Connecticut, parts of New York state, greater Philadelphia, Michigan, and the Cleveland area. They closed several of their weekly newspapers in Connecticut in December, including the Pictorial Gazette, the Branford Review, Clinton Recorder, Main Street News, and the East Haven Advertiser. Last month they agreed to sell three other weeklies, in addition to two dailies.

It was a weekend of bankruptcy filings for newspapers, as the owners of the Philadelphia Inquirer and the Philadelphia Daily News also filed for bankruptcy on Sunday after 11 months of debt negotiations broke down.

 

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