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Liberty Media Offers $1.16 billion for 40 Percent in Restructured iHeart

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Certain lenders and noteholders of iHeartMedia Inc. on Monday said John Malone’s Liberty Media Corp. proposed to buy a 40 percent stake in a restructured version of iHeart for $1.16 billion, Reuters reported. The offer comes less than a month after struggling radio station owner iHeart skipped a $106 million interest payment, triggering a 30-day grace period to buy more time to restructure its $20 billion debt and avoid bankruptcy. yesterday's proposal, which was made public via a term sheet issued to certain lenders and noteholders of iHeart, is intended to comply with existing restructuring support agreement discussions. Liberty is willing to finance working capital needs once iHeart has filed for chapter 11 protection through a debtor-in-possession financing facility, according to the document. In return, Liberty will receive 40 percent of the new shares of the company along with its majority held subsidiary Sirius XM Holdings Inc.

Boston Herald Sale to Digital First Media Approved by Bankruptcy Court

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A bankruptcy judge has approved the sale of the Boston Herald to Digital First Media for nearly $12 million, the newspaper’s law firm said on Friday, the Boston Globe reported. The approval was expected after Digital First, which is controlled by New York investment firm Alden Global Capital, emerged as the top bidder for the Herald at an auction Tuesday at the Boston offices of Brown Rudnick, the Herald’s law firm. Digital First narrowly beat rival bidder GateHouse Media, which had roughly doubled its initial bid for the Herald. Herald Publisher Pat Purcell is using the bankruptcy process to shed the paper’s debt — about $31 million in liabilities, as of December — to make it more viable for a potential seller. He had been losing money amid the industry’s prolonged advertising downturn. The Herald employed about 240 people at the time of the chapter 11 filing in December. Digital Media has agreed to offer jobs to 175 Herald employees when the sale process is complete, expected at the end of March.

Digital First Media top bidder in auction for Boston Herald

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A Denver-based company has emerged as the winning bidder for the Boston Herald that filed for bankruptcy in December, the Associated Press reported. Digital First Media's $11.9 million bid beat two other bidders for the Boston Herald in a five-hour bankruptcy auction held on Tuesday. The bid needs approval from a bankruptcy court judge, and a hearing is scheduled for tomorrow. Digital First owns hundreds of publications, including the Lowell Sun and Sentinel & Enterprise of Fitchburg, Mass. The Boston HeraldBoston Herald publisher Patrick Purcell previously cited declining revenue, digital media and growing competition in the decision to file for chapter 11 bankruptcy.

Bankrupt U.S. Energy Producer Breitburn Rebuffs $1.8 Billion Bid

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U.S. oil and gas producer Breitburn Energy Partners LP, which has been in bankruptcy since 2016, does not plan to pursue an unsolicited $1.8 billion cash offer from Lime Rock Resources, Reuters reported. The offer from Houston-based Lime Rock, which invests in oil-and-gas properties, surfaced last month as Breitburn was awaiting a ruling on its bankruptcy reorganization plan. The confirmation hearing ended in January after a bitter valuation battle between Breitburn and its shareholders who argued it undervalued the company. In a filing with U.S. Bankruptcy Court in Manhattan late Friday, Breitburn said it was not required to “pursue conditional offers thrown across the transom, particularly after the close of a contested Confirmation Hearing.” Houston, Texas-based Lime Rock’s $1.8 billion stalking-horse offer tops a $1.6 billion enterprise valuation by Breitburn’s investment bank.

Weinstein Company Sale Delayed by N.Y. Attorney General Lawsuit

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The fire sale of the Weinstein Company hit a last-minute snag yesterday, when Eric T. Schneiderman, New York’s attorney general, filed a lawsuit against the studio and its fraternal founders alleging that they repeatedly violated state and city laws barring gender discrimination, sexual harassment, sexual abuse and coercion, the New York Times reported. The lawsuit, filed electronically in State Supreme Court in Manhattan, appeared timed to at least delay a sale, which had been expected to be finalized yesterday. “Any sale of the Weinstein Company must ensure that victims will be compensated, employees will be protected going forward, and that neither perpetrators nor enablers will be unjustly enriched,” Schneiderman said. The Weinstein Company has been trying to avoid bankruptcy since October, when reports by The New York Times and The New Yorker revealed decades of sexual harassment allegations against one of its founders, Harvey Weinstein. The company was nearing a deal to sell itself to an investor group for roughly $275 million, plus the assumption of $225 million in debt.