Hey Canwest, Good Luck With That $3.7 Billion Debtload

by Truemorist | April 13, 2009 at 01:05 pm

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Canwest owes $3.7 billion dollars right now, some of which stems from their 'wise' decision to buy up newspaper shares from Hollinger back in 2000.

Ah newspapers, the business of the future!

Well, now the company's stock values have plummeted to all-time lows, its shares have been called "essentially worthless and to be avoided", and it is facing a dire and dreary future of debt restructuring.

And once again, it would seem, that advertising — and the lack thereof — is to blame.

As the world appears to revolve around the pivotal axis of ad revenue, these media behemoths are going to have to get their collective bottom lines built around something with a bit more stability than adverts and classifieds.

We hear that Twitter is hiring!

Shares of Canwest Global Communications are essentially worthless and should be avoided by investors as Canada's biggest media company fights to restructure its massive debt amid a severe advertising downturn, analysts said on Monday.

Canwest has another debt deadline on Tuesday, by which time it must pay $30.4 million in interest to holders of its 8 percent senior subordinated notes. The payment was originally due March 15, but the company missed it.

If it doesn't pay on Tuesday, the investors can demand the repayment of about $761 million of outstanding principal on the notes. This could further exacerbate the crisis facing the company.