WEST PALM BEACH, FLA.: ION Media’s creditors are objecting to the terms of the company’s $150 million debtor-in-possession loan, Law360 reports. ION in turn told the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York on Wednesday that the loan facility was “fair and reasonable.” ION filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy in late May after reaching an agreement with creditors representing 60 percent of its first-lien senior secured debt. The arrangement wiped out more than $2.7 billon in legacy debt and preferred stock, and called for the same creditors to underwrite the $150 million loan facility. The loan was part of a $300 million facility intended to be converted into equity when the company’s restructuring is complete.
ION has cancelled leases as it works through its restructuring, according to CoStar Group, a commercial real estate concern. ION gave up office space on Production Drive in Indianapolis and Biscayne Boulevard in Miami, and office/warehouse space in Tampa, Fla. No rent amounts were listed for any of the spaces.
Through it all, ION continues to execute its business plan. The primary network was taken HD this year, and mobile DTV was recently launched in Washington, D.C. and Manhattan. ION also continues to build its programming line-up with off-network series and planned original movies.
-- Deborah D. McAdams
More TVB coverage of ION:
May 21, 2009: “ION Files for Bankruptcy”
ION Media Networks has filed for Chapter 11 in U.S. Bankruptcy Court for the Southern District of New York, listing assets of around $10 million and liabilities of more than $1 billion. A total of 117 subsidiaries also filed.
June 29, 2009: “ION Mobilizes TV in Manhattan and D.C.”
The service marks the for-real commercial debut of mobile digital TV broadcasting in the United States, though for whom is unclear. Various prototype receivers were bandied at April’s NAB trade show, but none appear to be readily available
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