The E. W. Scripps Company on Tuesday announced a deal with certain creditors to refinance around 70 percent of its outstanding debt that was due within the next three years.
The deal involves multiple term loans due between May 2026 and June 2028 that pushes out the date of maturity to June 2028 and November 2029 respectively. Those loans represent around $1.3 billion of debt, Scripps said in a news release.
Additionally, Scripps has executed commitment letters with new lenders to provide an additional $450 million in “accounts receivable securitization facility” — essentially, a new cash loan that Scripps intends to pay down some of its existing term loans.
Scripps has also entered into new credit agreements that will grant the broadcaster an additional $208 million in revolving credit facility that matures in July 2027. That will effectively replace the company’s existing credit facility, Scripps said, while still giving it some amount of credit to draw from over time.
All creditors that possess existing B-2 or B-3 term loans will be able to exchange them for the new B-2 or B-3 term loans as described on Tuesday, the company affirmed.
“Our agreement includes a series of actions to transform Scripps’ balance sheet and strengthen our ability to implement key strategic initiatives that support our ongoing transformation,” Scripps Chief Financial Officer Jason Combs said in a statement. “We are grateful for the broad-based support from our existing and new investors that contributed to this attractive refinancing. As we move forward, we remain focused on improving the company’s operating performance, managing our debt and positioning the company for the future.”
The restructuring of its debt was the motivating factor behind Scripps delaying the release of its latest financial earnings report, which was scheduled to be published in late February. One day before the report was to be made public, Scripps executives said the company would push back the release of its report to March 12. In December, Scripps said it used some of its recent political and core advertising revenue windfall to pay down around $115 million of debt during its third financial quarter (Q3).
