Triple Crown Media, the local newspaper group spun off from Gray Television in 2005, is the latest publisher to enter federal bankruptcy court for reorganization. Triple Crown, which is headed as well by Gray President Bob Prather, has filed a pre-packaged Chapter 11 plan with support from most of its creditors.
If you’re a Gray employee or long-time shareholder who still holds stock from the 2005 spin-off of Triple Crown into a separate company, the bad news for you is that the stock will be canceled under the Chapter 11 reorganization plan. The new owners will be the company’s creditors.
Under the proposed restructuring, approximately $35 million of the Triple Crown’s second lien debt will be exchanged for $10 million of new second lien secured notes and 90% of the new common stock of the reorganized company. The company’s approximately $27 million of existing preferred stock will be exchanged for 5% of the new common stock. The remaining 5% would be available for issuance under management compensation programs. Triple Crown will, however, become a private company, with no public stock.
Prather had been back to running Triple Crown since late 2007, when a big chunk of the company, its sports business, was sold to IMG for $74.3 million – and the company president went along with the deal.
The company now in Chapter 11 consists of six newspapers, all located in Georgia: The Albany Herald, Gwinnett Daily Post, Henry Herald, Jonesboro News-Daily, Newton Citizen and Rockdale Citizen.
