GateHouse Media, Inc., the company that owns the Peoria Journal Star and the Peoria Times-Observer, finally saw their stock rise slightly, closing right at $1 today. Unfortunately, they also saw the NYSE halt floor trading of their stock — the first step toward being de-listed altogether.
NYSE Regulation spokesman Scott Peterson said trading of GateHouse (NYSE: GHS) was put under an “operational trading halt” on Tuesday morning. To return to floor trading, a stock must trade above $1.10 a share for an entire trading day.
GateHouse also announced today that they’re shuttering two Massachusetts weekly newspapers: The Taunton Call and The Avon Messenger. In both cases, GateHouse also owns a daily paper in the same market. And in both cases, GateHouse uses the same boilerplate to explain its decision to mothball the weekly:
…we have continued to analyze the best possible way to provide you with the most comprehensive local news in [Taunton/Avon]. We believe that mission will be accomplished by focusing our energies on our daily publication and through the most dynamic local Web sites possible.
If that’s any indication of their improvement strategy, look out Peoria Times-Observer.
Hat tip: Billy Dennis.
Here is the thing: There’s a possibility GateHouse’s creditors might declare the company in default and call in it’s financing.
If GateHouse is forced to sell off all it’s assets, can the Journal Star be sold in one bundle to help GateHouse pay off that debt?
Consider this, from October 2004:
The Journal Star OWED money on that press before GateHouse bought it. When newspapers aren’t worth much on the market anymore, why would an investor buy a paper than owes that much money? Maybe GateHouse decides to sell off the presses and the JS has to be printed elsewhere, like in Pekin or Havana.
The JS printed in Pekin? That would be awfully ironic since GateHouse was, less than 2 years ago, insisting that the Pekin Times was going to be printed in Peoria or Galesburg. Does Pekin even still have its presses?
Havana Printing, however, is well-known and does print many publications.
The TimesObserver is a joke of a paper.
I do pick it up off of my lawn and do scan it but they seem so focused on Dunlap sports it likes who cares? They maybe have one or two news articles a week and the rest is ads. Again who cares if this rag goes away.
How about the JS become an ESOP again?