March 28, 2012

Media company completes restructuring deal

S. Donald Sussman buys a 75 percent equity stake as MaineToday Media positions itself for growth.

By Tux Turkel tturkel@mainetoday.com
Staff Writer

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S. Donald Sussman
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S. Donald Sussman

The Associated Press

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Institutional investors, including out-of-state pension funds, asked for important changes to the original package announced in February. Sussman's financial contribution still adds up to the same amount of money, $3.3 million. But instead of a loan, the money is being used for a straight purchase of private stock. The result is that Maine Values will have a 75 percent ownership stake in the company, rather than 5 percent.

The change was requested by the institutional investors, according to Peter Brodsky, chairman of the MaineToday Media board of directors. They believed the additional debt could have hampered the company's growth strategy, he said.

"It's a good day for our company, our 412 employees and the 3,000 Maine vendors we work with in communities across the state," Brodsky said in a prepared statement. "As with any deal, we had to listen to our institutional investors and be responsive to their feedback."

Sussman's limited role in the company's operations remains unchanged with the straight stock purchase. He said that while he would have preferred the original arrangement of the loan and a smaller equity stake, he was not willing to abandon an important community resource and the hundreds of jobs that came with it.

"I'm just happy that the MTM newspaper business is secure and now has a chance to grow," he said.

Staff Writer Tux Turkel can be contacted at 791-6462 or at: tturkel@pressherald.com

 

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