The owners of The Free Lance-Star have filed for bankruptcy, the newspaper reported this morning.
“The filing isn’t expected to have any immediate effect on the company’s employees, customers, advertisers or vendors,” FLS Publisher Nick Cadwallender said.
The bankruptcy comes after the newspaper was unable to meet demands of a $50.8 million loan, taken out in 2007 to build the Print Innovators printing plant. The plant opened in 2009, amidst the deep recession. The loan is now owned by Sandton Capital Partners.
The company has slashed 151 jobs since 2007, roughly a third of the workforce, and attempted to find a new owner. Numerous Virginia newspapers have changed hands in recent years, including the purchase of Media General’s newspapers by Berkshire Hathaway; The Roanoke Times, also by BH; and three weekly newspapers in Southside Virginia acquired by Hermes Publications last month. The Progress-Index (Petersburg) is presently for sale by Times Shamrock Communications.
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