The bankrupt Boston Herald plans to pay former workers who are owed about $1.2 million in severance about 37 cents on the dollar, according to a disclosure statement filed on Friday in court, WSJ Pro Bankruptcy reported. The document also shows that general unsecured creditors are getting about 11 cents on the dollar for the $68.1 million they are owed. The Boston Herald’s owner, Herald Media Holdings Inc., sought protection from creditors in December in U.S. Bankruptcy Court in Wilmington, Del. In March the company was bought for nearly $12 million out of bankruptcy by Digital First Media, which is owned by hedge fund Alden Global Capital LLC. Digital First, like two other companies that bid on the Boston Herald’s assets in bankruptcy, plans to keep about 175 of 240 current workers and won’t recognize collective bargaining agreements after the bankruptcy. William Baldiga, a Brown Rudnick LLP lawyer representing the Boston Herald, said yesterday that severance claims could have been much higher had Digital First and other bidders not agreed to make employment offers to almost three-fourths of workers.
