print is dead

Reader’s Digest Files For Bankruptcy (Again)

As Reader’s Digest filed for its second bankruptcy in four years on Sunday, CEO Robert Guth told Bloomberg that the main message he wanted to convey was one of confidence. The 91-year-old publisher needs to cut $465 million in debt, and it’s filing for chapter 11 in order to do so. The filing documents showed assets and debt worth more than $1 billion, Bloomberg reports. “Under a restructuring agreement supported by Wells Fargo & Co., $465 million of remaining senior notes will all convert to equity.”

Guth said the company’s transition to digital was working, noting that it “sold more digital editions in December than we did newsstand editions.” But the change is not happening fast enough. “The key message here is that we have a lot of confidence in the future of the business based upon the success of the ongoing operational transformation, but we haven’t had as much success with the balance sheet side of it and we need this process to help accelerate that.” The company emerged from bankruptcy in six months after filing for chapter 11 in 2009, reducing its debt by 75 percent and securing $525 in exit financing. Here’s hoping this bout with fiscal ill health will be equally, er, abridged.

Reader’s Digest Files For Bankruptcy (Again)