By: E&P Staff Sun-Times Media Group Inc. has skipped more than $800,000 in payments to its pension plans, according to filings in its bankruptcy case.
Among the skipped payments were more than $456,000 in payments to the plan covering Newspaper Guild-represented employees at the flagship Chicago Sun-Times, and more than $284,000 for other employees at the Chicago headquarters. The skipped payments, which were due April 15, were first reported by Ann Saphir and Lorene Yue of Crain's Chicago Business.
Companies in bankruptcy reorganization can skip required pension plan contributions if they obtain a waiver from the Internal Revenue Service. A Sun-Times spokesperson said the company had "complied with all applicable laws" in skipping the payments.
As Sun-Times Media Group shapes itself up to sell all or some of its dozens of Chicago-area newspapers, it has been aggressively cutting costs to slow a cash burn that amounted to more than $5 million a month when it filed for bankruptcy protection in March. More recently, the company said that has slowed and its cash reserve has actually strengthened somewhat to $25 million.
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