Denver Post owner Singleton seeks new labor deal

[Omaha Steve]

http://www.bizjournals.com/denver/stories/2008/12/08/daily73.html

Saturday, December 13, 2008 - 9:27 AM MST

Denver Business Journal - by Mark Harden

The Denver Post's principal owner has asked labor unions at the paper and at the agency that publishes the Denver daily to reopen their contracts with an eye toward cutting expenses by $20 million, the Rocky Mountain News reported Saturday.

William Dean Singleton made the request at a meeting with union representatives on Friday, the News reported.

Singleton is vice president and CEO of Denver-based MediaNews Group Inc., the privately held media company that owns the Post. He is also principal owner of the closely held company.

Singleton reportedly asked that bargaining on wages and benefits begin next week.

On Thursday, Moody's Investor's Service downgraded its “probability of default” rating of MediaNews Group to Caa3 from Caa1, indicating the company is in “substantial risk” of default on nearly $1 billion in debt.

Moody's said MediaNews sales had declined by 16 percent during the quarter ended Sept. 30, and said it had calculated MediaNews’s leverage ratio as more than 8 times debt to EBITDA (earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortization).

FULL story at link.