Chronicle Herald, SaltWire business issues traced back to 2017
CTV
A private debt firm has driven Atlantic Canada’s largest newspaper company, The Chronicle Herald and SaltWire Network, into insolvency.
A private debt firm has driven Atlantic Canada’s largest newspaper company, The Chronicle Herald and SaltWire Network, into insolvency.
Supreme Court documents show the media company has filed for creditor protection and is carrying debts totalling more than $94 million.
The bulk of that debt and nearly $33 million is owed to Fiera Private Debt Fund.
According to media critic and author Stephen Kimber, the newspaper company's downfall began in 2017 after a long and drawn-out employee strike at the company's oldest newspaper, The Chronicle Herald
“You are coming to the end of this long and bitter strike and the Herald is in shambles, but instead of trying to figure out what to do with that, they create a company called SaltWire and buy 28 newspapers around the region," said Kimber.
Fiera says SaltWire and the Herald have failed to meet the conditions set out in their borrowing and repayment agreements for more than five years and accuse its business leaders of mismanagement.
Court documents show the Herald, SaltWire and other named companies are owned and managed by CEO Mark Lever and Sarah Dennis through a family trust.
