Atlantic newspaper owner Saltwire faces insolvency after lender files claim
BNN Bloomberg
A private equity fund is initiating insolvency proceedings against Atlantic newspaper owner SaltWire Network Inc., claiming it owes tens of millions of dollars after several years of mismanagement.
In documents filed to the Supreme Court of Nova Scotia on Monday, Fiera Private Debt Fund said Saltwire and The Halifax Herald Ltd. together owe it $32.7 million, plus almost $600,000 of accrued and outstanding interest.
About three-quarters of that debt is owed by Saltwire, which owns a number of news publications across Atlantic Canada including Halifax's Chronicle Herald, the Telegram in St. John's, and the Guardian in Charlottetown.
Fiera said in the filings that senior management of the company has mismanaged the business, used employee pension funds for operations and failed to remit HST, among other allegations.
