A monitor’s report says Postmedia Network Inc. has put forward a purchase price of $1 million to acquire Atlantic Canada’s largest newspaper chain. Newspapers owned by SaltWire Network Inc. are photographed in Halifax on Tuesday, March 12, 2024. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Darren Calabrese
HALIFAX – A monitor’s report says Postmedia Network Inc. has offered $1 million to purchase Atlantic Canada’s largest newspaper chain.
The offer is being recommended by Toronto-based KSV Restructuring Inc., the court-appointed monitor overseeing the insolvency proceedings involving SaltWire Network Inc. and the Halifax Herald Ltd.
In March, the two insolvent media companies were granted court-ordered protection from creditors who were owed more than $90 million.
Under the plan, Postmedia, who will be the sole limited partner, will also make future payments for accrued liabilities.
The senior secured lender, Fiera Capital, has said SaltWire and The Herald together owe it $32.7 million.
The report says Postmedia is looking to close the deal by Aug. 24, and the offer is scheduled to be presented to a Nova Scotia Supreme Court judge for approval on Thursday.
Toronto-based Postmedia owns the National Post, Vancouver Sun, Calgary Herald and dozens of other publications.
The Halifax Herald Ltd. owns The Chronicle Herald, an independent daily newspaper that was founded almost 200 years ago.
In 2017, the owners of the Herald – Mark Lever and his wife Sarah Dennis – created SaltWire Network Inc., which bought more than two dozen newspapers and web-related properties owned by Transcontinental Nova Scotia Media. Those publications include daily newspapers in Nova Scotia, P.E.I. and Newfoundland, including the Cape Breton Post in Sydney, N.S.; the Guardian in Charlottetown; and the Telegram in St. John’s, N.L.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Aug. 3, 2024.
