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Brown Publishing asks to sell assets to lenders

Most papers would be transferred to Ohio Community Media for $21.75 million.

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By Matt Sanctis, Staff Writer Updated 1:46 AM Friday, September 3, 2010

URBANA — Attorneys representing Brown Publishing have submitted a proposal in which most of the company’s newspaper assets would be sold to a new company formed by banks and lenders.

According to information filed this week, most Brown papers, including the Urbana Daily Citizen and other publications in southwest Ohio, would be transferred to Ohio Community Media, LLC, for $21,750,000.

Ohio Community Media is owned by lenders with a first-lien credit agreement with Brown Publishing, according to bankruptcy court records. That group includes PNC Bank, Prudential Insurance Co., Wells Fargo Bank, Allied Irish Bank, AIB Debt Management, Brown Brothers and Harriman, and Huntington National Bank.

Fred Solomon, vice president of corporate communications for the PNC Financial Services Group, declined to comment on the potential sale because the issue is still being resolved in the courts.

Attorneys for Brown Publishing also did not return a call seeking comment Thursday afternoon.

In a separate proposal, attorneys for Brown Publishing also proposed to sell its newspaper group on New York’s Long Island, Dan’s Papers, Inc. to a separate company called Dan’s Paper’s Holdings, LLC, a limited liability company in New York, for $1,750,000, according to court documents.

Top executives at Brown Publishing had initially made a bid to purchase the company’s assets for $22.4 million through a separate company called Brown Media. However, that deal fell through last month because the lender for the Brown Media Corp. backed out of the deal, according to court records.

Executives at Brown Publishing have already closed on the sale of three of its papers in Northwest Ohio. The Delphos Herald Inc., a northwest Ohio newspaper company, purchased assets including newspapers in Ada, Van Wert and Putnam Counties.

Brown Publishing filed for bankruptcy protection in April. The company is headquartered in Cincinnati but has extensive ties to Champaign County, which is home to the Brown family, the largest shareholders in the company.

Company papers that are involved in the sale to Ohio Community Media would include all the company’s remaining papers in Ohio, including the Troy Daily News, Greenville Daily Advocate, Sidney Daily News, Piqua Daily Call and the Times Community Newspapers in suburban Dayton. It also includes daily and weekly papers in South Carolina, Texas, Utah, Illinois, Iowa and Colorado.

The publications employ approximately 764 people, according to court records.

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