• Editor & Publisher, Thursday, August 20, 2009 10:52 PM

Luxury homebuilder Bruce Toll and a group of local investors are putting up $52 million in cash and credit to buy bankrupt Philadelphia Media Holdings, owner of The Philadelphia Inquirer and Philadelphia Daily News. The plan will eliminate all debt for the new company headed by Toll.

The plan provides an additional $25 million to Toll's new company to pay bankruptcy exit costs. Philadelphia Media listed $300 million in debt when it filed for bankruptcy last February. Creditors will be paid approximately $66 million of that $300 million in a combination of cash and real estate.

"With this payment, the new owner will acquire the newspaper assets free and clear of existing debt," says Philadelphia Media. The Toll group's $52 million includes $35 million in new equity and $17 million in credit. In addition to Toll, vice chairman of Toll Brothers, the new ownership will include Carpenters' Union Pension Fund and Penn Matrix Investments.

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