Dallas-based Belo, the television and newspaper company, is in talks with J.P. Morgan about refinancing its $1 billion facility that expires in August 2002, and expects to complete the new deal by year-end. The refinancing is amidst a market that sees continued advertising weakness, especially national revenues at the television stations and classified employment revenue in the newspapers, said a banker. There has also been revenue losses specifically related to the coverage of Sept. 11, with advertisers unwilling to associate products with the coverage. Calls to Dunia Shive, executive v.p., and cfo and Carey Hendrickson, v.p., for investor relations were not returned. Calls to the J.P. Morgan spokesman were also not returned.
By being one of the top organizations, news franchises like Belo's hold a distinct advantage in attracting a disproportionate share of viewers and readers. "In the days following Sept. 11, audiences in Belo's markets turned to our newspapers, television stations, cable channels and Web sites in record numbers," according to a company release. Belo has also closed on a $350 million offering of senior notes. The notes, which will mature on Nov. 1, 2008, were priced at par with a yield of 8%. Standard & Poor's rated the notes and senior unsecured debt BBB-. The old facility, arranged in 1997, was led by Chase Manhattan Bank,Bank of Tokyo-Mitsubishi, Bank of America andNationsBank , with pricing off a grid linked to the company's ratings of LIBOR plus 35 basis points.