By: The owners of The Daytona Beach News-Journal can pay their corporate partner, Cox Enterprises Inc., $129.2 million in installments over five years to buy out the company, a judge ruled.
The ruling Wednesday sets the terms of the sale, which would end the 37-year relationship between Cox and the newspaper. The judge had set the value of the buyout back in June, but an attorney for the paper, Jon Kaney, said an appeal was planned.
"I don't believe the company will be able to carry the burden this order puts on us," Kaney told the News-Journal.
In an eight-page order, U.S. District Judge John Antoon II set terms of the sale, including restrictions on the New-Journal during the time when it is paying the company. The paper will also have to pay interest on the amount.
Atlanta-based Cox owns nearly half of the News-Journal and had sued the newspaper's board of directors, accusing them of wasting $13 million for naming rights to a community arts center in Daytona Beach. The suit prompted the paper to initiate the buyout.
The News-Journal had argued it should pay $29.4 million, based on what the company would be worth if it continued operating as it has in the past.
An attorney for Cox, John A. DeVault III, said they would have preferred to have the payment up front but understand the judge's order.
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