On Tuesday, a potential buyer came forward for Metro Média, owner of the Métro newspaper and 16 weekly newspapers on the island of Montreal and Quebec City that have closed their doors in recent months.
Trustee KPGM said in a preliminary report filed on Wednesday that it had received an offer from a potential buyer shortly before the Oct. 17 deadline at 2 p.m. No information was provided regarding the identity of this buyer.
KPMG also did not indicate whether the potential buyer is interested in all of Métro Média’s activities or just part of them.
“[L’offre de rachat] “must be examined by the audit committee set up at the first meeting of creditors,” the trustee limited himself to stating.
Montreal wants its money back
Additionally, the report shows that the City of Montreal filed a lawsuit on October 2 to recover $1,275,000. This amount was granted to Métro Média in the form of repayable grants.
More broadly, Métro Média owes its creditors around $2.4 million, split almost equally between secured and unsecured creditors. At the time of bankruptcy, the company only had $2 million in tax credits.
Métro Média announced the suspension of its activities in August, before confirming the closure of all its newspapers on September 17.
The company had pointed to the decline in advertising revenue and Publisac’s distribution ban in Montreal as explanations for its setbacks. However, the Journal de Montréal reported that Métro Média owner Michael Raffoul had collected a $2.57 million dividend a few months before the financial difficulties began.