Sep. 29--In a filing Monday with the Securities and Exchange Commission, Morris Publishing Group, the Times-Union's parent company, provided details about a pending agreement to restructure $417 million in debt.

The restructuring, described in a company news release Friday, would be in two parts. First, holders of $278.5 million in unsecured bond notes would exchange those for $100 million in secured notes.

But before the bond restructuring, Morris Publishing must refinance $138.8 million in secured debt it owes to banks. The refinancing would involve MPG's parent, Morris Communications, which includes billboard, magazine, book publishing and radio enterprises.

The bank debt refinancing would generate $110 million to pay down the secured bank notes, leaving Morris Publishing with $26.5 million in senior secured bank debt and making available freed assets to then secure the bond debt.

The SEC filing said the agreement calls for an out-of-court exchange if holders of 99 percent of the existing notes participate and/or the agreement is accepted in a Chapter 11 reorganization under federal bankruptcy law.

John Morton, a newspaper industry analyst in Silver Springs, Md., said any easing of debt would be good for Morris, which has been in negotiations with its lenders for several months.

Michael Alcamo, president of a New York City-based investment banking firm, said the restructuring is a positive move for Morris as well as its lenders.

He told FolioMag.com, a national magazine and publishing industry Web site, that bankers are realizing two things: "First, that bankruptcy is a bad outcome for a media business; and secondly, that the prospects for recovery and growth in 2010 and 2011 are excellent."

Morris Publishing reported a net loss of $140.7 million in 2008, due basically to a write-off of goodwill from its balance sheet, and a loss of $13.9 million in the first six months of this year.

But its operations produced a positive cash flow of $35.2 million in 2008 and $14.2 million in the first half of 2009.

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