Lee Enterprises -- parent of the Quad City Times -- is again facing delisting from the New York Stock Exchange while pressure mounts on the newspaper chain to refinance its more than $1 billion in debt.
According to an article by Bloomberg Thursday (7/14), Lee is in talks with creditors Monach Alternative Capital LP and Goldman Sachs Group Inc. The newspaper publishing group reportedly is offering higher rates and equity interest in the company to refinance its debt, according to Bloomberg.
Lee, which owns 49 daily newspapers including the QC Times and the St. Louis Post-Dispatch, must refinance the more than $1 billion in outstanding loans and bonds due to mature in April 2012.
Lee Chairman and Chief Executive Officer Mary Junck said Thursday in a corporate news release the firm was involved in "substantive and productive discussions with key lenders about an extension of our credit agreement" and that the company "fully expect(s) a satisfactory outcome, though the process will likely take several months."
Junck also reported the corporation's revenues for the third quarter ended June 26 would fall 4.2 percent below revenues for the same period a year ago.
Following the Bloomberg article and the company's financial update, Lee stock lost 15 percent (16 cents) in trading Friday (7/15) and closed at 92 cents a share.
The stock exchange notified Lee July 8 the company faces delisting because its average share price for the most recent 30-day period had fallen below the $1 minimum. To remain listed, the stock must achieve the $1 minimum over a 30-day period within the next six months.
Lee's stock price had fallen as low as 31 cents a share in early 2009, but had been trading as high as $3.47 per share within the past year.
