Posted on 11/01/2010 12:02:46 PM PDT by WebFocus
American Media, which also publishes Men's Fitness and Star, seeks Chapter 11 agreement as it negotiates with bondholders.
The owner of supermarket tabloid the National Enquirer is to file for bankruptcy protection in the US.
American Media, the country's biggest owner of celebrity magazines, publishes more than a dozen titles with a combined circulation of 6.8m as well as the National Enquirer.
The privately owned company has been trying to refinance its debt and said today that it will enter into a Chapter 11 agreement to negotiate a debt-for-equity swap with bondholders.
David Pecker, American Media's president, insisted in a statement it would be "business as usual" at the publisher, whose other titles include Men's Fitness and gossip weekly Star, while talks with creditors take place.
American Media is effectively owned by its bondholders after agreeing last year to hand them 95% of its shares as it sought to prevent bankruptcy.
An executive at a rival publishing group which operates in the same market said: "It is a bad time for their celebrity magazines and Star in particular has posted some of its worst ever sales figures recently. I know they have an older and more downmarket demographic which means they suffer more than normal in a tough market."
Many of its titles are popular with "blue collar" US readers who have been hit hard by the recession. The circulation of its flagship title the National Enquirer has fallen from a peak of over 6m to about 1m.
The company was bought by two private equity groups, Thomas H Lee Partners and Evercore Partners, for $850m in 1999 and paid $350m for Weider Publications, a major publisher of health titles including Shape and Men's Fitness, in 2003.
(Excerpt) Read more at guardian.co.uk ...
SoooHHHHHm, you would have “Rather” not? ............
Perhaps they need to return to the blood and guts splashed covers of the 1950s.
I still remember the “I CUT OUT HER HEART AND ATE IT!” cover from my youth.
NO!!!!!!!!!!!
It must have been exhausting work.
Like the time I became the announcer at WWV. Finally, I just had to quit because I couldn't stand the hours.
Not even Charlie Sheen could save them.
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