(Reuters) ? Lee Enterprises Inc said it would file for voluntary prepackaged bankruptcy protection before December 12, as the media company struggles to pay off its debt.
The company, which publishes the St. Louis Post-Dispatch and scores of other daily newspapers, said it had reached a refinancing agreement with most of its creditors, extending the maturity date on some of its debt to December 2015.
The bankruptcy filing plan comes two months after the company had reached an agreement with most its lenders to refinance $769.5 million of its distressed loans.
Most local newspaper publishers in the United States have been hit by dropping circulation and falling advertising revenue, forcing them to sell off or shut several publications.
Last month, Tribune Co, the owner of the Los Angeles Times and Chicago Tribune newspapers, filed a third reorganization plan with the U.S. Bankruptcy Court.
Lee, which will file for the prepackaged relief with the U.S. Bankruptcy Court in Delaware, said the plan will help preserve 87 percent of interests of stockholders and all interests of creditors and other business partners.
The company had $994.5 million in debt at the end of the fourth quarter.
Lee shares have seen a precipitous fall, having lost more than 90 percent since their life high in mid-2004 when they were trading around $45-$50. They closed at 53 cents Friday on the New York Stock Exchange.
The company was founded in 1890 in Ottumwa, Iowa, by A.W. Lee and had distinguished writers such as Mark Twain, Willa Cather and Thornton Wilder on its rolls.
NYSE Regulation said it will continue trading the company's common stock while reviewing its status.
(Reporting by Sruthi Ramakrishnan in Bangalore, Editing by Saumyadeb Chakrabarty)
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