Journal Communications extends loans two and a half years

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Journal Communications announced that it has successfully amended its revolving credit facility and extended its maturity date.


The amendment provides for a revolving credit facility with aggregate commitments of $299 million, $74 million of which matures on June 2, 2011 and $225 million of which matures on December 2, 2013. It also includes a revised leverage covenant ratio of 3.5 times, among other changed terms, and is secured by liens on certain Journal assets and the assets of Journal subsidiaries.

 “We are pleased to have completed this amendment, which has enabled us to extend the maturity of our credit facility by an additional 2 ½ years, while providing us with sufficient financial flexibility to operate our business, pay down debt and opportunistically grow our company. We appreciate the bank group’s continued support,” said CEO Steven Smith.

Journal’s lender group is led by US Bank NA. It includes, among others, SunTrust, Bank of America and Wells Fargo.

The Milwaukee-based media company owns that city’s daily newspaper, the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel, and several community newspapers and shoppers in Wisconsin and Florida. Its Journal Broadcast Group operation owns and operates 33 radio stations and 13 television stations in 12 states and operates an additional television station under a local marketing agreement.