AP, Vertis to buy Newspaper Network
The McClatchy Co. reached separate agreements to sell the assets of The Newspaper Network Inc. to The Associated Press and Vertis Inc., the three companies said Thursday.
Terms of the deal were not disclosed. It is expected to close in June.
The Newspaper Network, which McClatchy treasurer R. Elaine Lintecum said had about $12 million in 2002 revenues, facilitates the planning, pricing and placing of advertising in newspapers around the country.
The AP will purchase TNN's advertising processing operation, which is responsible for placement and billing processes, complementing AP's existing ad processing business, AP AdVantage. Both processing operations are located in Sacramento, Calif.
Separately, Baltimore-based Vertis will purchase the sales, marketing and media planning assets of TNN and operate it under The Newspaper Network name.
Rating
Interstate Bakeries placed on CreditWatch
Standard & Poor's Ratings Services is keeping a closer watch on Kansas City, Mo.-based Interstate Bakeries Corp.'s corporate and bank loan ratings.
It placed Interstate Bakeries on CreditWatch on Wednesday, a day after chief executive James Elsesser said the company's poor performance recently might keep it from complying with its financial covenants. Elsesser said that the company was currently in compliance.
The company's Standard & Poor's corporate credit and bank loans are rated BBB-, known as "junk."
Aviation
Boeing to report charges, to layoff 260 workers
Boeing Co. said it would post $1.2 billion in charges to reflect declining asset values, including companies it has acquired and to add reserves to its financing unit.
The Chicago-based company, which has seen orders dwindle at its world-leading commercial jet unit and at its commercial satellite making business, will record the charges, equating to $1.23 per share, in its first quarter financial report due April 23.
Meanwhile, the company said it would fire 260 workers in St. Louis, citing slow sales of military aircraft.
Boeing employs about 15,000 people in St. Louis, where it bases its defense and space unit. In Kansas, it employs about 12,500, making it the state's biggest private employer.
Utility
Proposed Aquila loan receives junk rating
Moody's Investors Service Inc. has issued a junk rating for a $430 million loan for Aquila Inc., another sign the Kansas City, Mo.-based utility is wrapping up a crucial credit agreement.
Moody's said it had assigned a B2 rating for the proposed three-year loan, which will be backed by Aquila assets. Moody's already had given the junk rating to the rest of Aquila's debt.
Aquila spokesman Al Butkus said Moody's rating did not cover all the debt that will be part of the agreement.
Failure to obtain the new agreement would trigger repayment of about $3 billion in debt, producing a financial crisis for Aquila.
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