Postmedia offers to buy Atlantic Canada’s largest newspaper chain

A watchdog report says Postmedia Network Inc. offered $1 million to buy Atlantic Canada’s largest newspaper chain.

The offer is being recommended by Toronto-based KSV Restructuring Inc., the court-appointed monitor overseeing insolvency proceedings involving SaltWire Network Inc. and Halifax Herald Ltd.

In March, the two insolvent media companies were granted court-ordered protection from creditors owed more than $90 million.

Under the plan, Postmedia, which will be the sole limited partner, will also make future payments for accrued liabilities.

Senior secured lender Fiera Capital said SaltWire and The Herald together owe it $32.7 million.

According to the report, Postmedia is looking to close the deal by Aug. 24, and the offer is expected to go before a Nova Scotia Supreme Court judge for approval on Thursday.

Toronto-based Postmedia owns the National Post, the Vancouver Sun, the Calgary Herald and dozens of other publications.

The Halifax Herald Ltd. owns the Chronicle Herald, an independent daily newspaper founded nearly 200 years ago.

In 2017, Herald owners Mark Lever and his wife Sarah Dennis formed SaltWire Network Inc., which purchased more than two dozen newspapers and websites owned by Transcontinental Nova Scotia Media. These publications include dailies in Nova Scotia, Prince Edward Island and Newfoundland, including the Cape Breton Post in Sydney, N.S.; the Guardian in Charlottetown; and the Telegram in St. John’s, N.L.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published Aug. 3, 2024.