Freedom Communications

Senior Secured Term Loan

Overview

Freedom Communications is a newspaper publishing company operating three divisions (i) The Orange County Register (OCR) (ii) The Colorado Springs Gazette (CS) and (iii) Pacific Community Group (PCG) – a collective of 5 West Coast daily publications and 5 weekly publications.  OCR is the 17th largest US newspaper and the dominate publication in Orange Country and  CS is the 2nd largest publication in the state of Colorado.

Challenge

2100 Trust, an entity formed by entrepreneurs and former media executives, sought to acquire these three divisions. These assets were the final ones remaining of the original Freedom Communications entity that filed for bankruptcy in 2010. Debt capital was needed to provide financing for the acquisition. SLR Credit Solutions was initially contacted on the opportunity in late June and provided a commitment letter on July 2nd, 2012.

Solution

SLR Credit Solutions provided a senior secured term loan secured by the Company’s assets including A/R, Inventory, M & E and Real Estate. All business and legal diligence was completed in a very fast timeframe as the transaction closed and funded on July 25th – in 13 business days.