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3 July 2012
Ironstone Media creditors agree to restructuring proposal
PICKERING, ON—Creditors of Pickering, Ont.-based publication printer Ironstone Media have voted to accept a restructuring proposal from the company, meaning Ironstone can continue operations.
In March, with the support of its bank and key suppliers, privately owned Ironstone filed a notice of intent to file a proposal under Canada’s Bankruptcy and Insolvency Act. On June 22, creditors voted to approve the proposal, which calls for repayment of outstanding debts at six cents on the dollar.
Prior to the creditors approving the proposal, the company also secured a more competitive labour agreement with its unionized workers.
"The biggest concern for the majority of the creditors was the ability of this company to succeed and move forward," Kelly Dirken, Ironstone's sales director and a 20-year veteran of the company, told PrintCan.com. "It's really good news."
To help secure creditor support, Ironstone negotiated a new contract with its approximately 65 workers who are members of the Communications, Energy and Paperworks Union of Canada.
Dirken says Ironstone will continue to focus on the publications market, primarily with small to mid-size publishers. The company also offers digital publishing solutions such as digital editions and web sites, under its LinkPath banner.
"We really see that future of the electronic and the web working with print," Dirken says.
Dirken also says it was important for his company to continue to provide choice to publishers and to continue to provide business for many trade suppliers.
The company operates four web presses and one sheetfed. Ironstone Media Corporation ranked 42nd in the June 2011 Graphic Monthly Canada Gold List of the top 100 printers in Canada by sales volume, with a reported $26,250,000 in sales in 2010. At the time, the company had 100 employees. The corporation started as Web Offset Publications in 1961. The current owners are CEO John Bacopulos and president John Pizale.
Comments (17) Post a Comment
Comments:
17. Neil says:
use to work there got laid_off enjoyed working there ,worked in other printing companys that had problems to but did nothing about it ,glad to see you guys are back on track...
16. Ex Employee says:
typical of web
15. Formeremp says:
Used to work here before I got laid off. Too many chiefs in the front office, too many managers...company is not lean enough to compete with trade suppliers.
14. Reality Check says:
Anyone in the printing industry knows what difficult times we are in at present. Advertisers struggle to pay publishers. Publishers struggle to pay printers. Printers struggle to pay suppliers. To have a job is better than to not have a job in these difficult economic times. Think of all the employees at the ad agencies, publishing houses, printers and suppliers who would be out of a job if this restructuring proposal had not been accepted. It is in the best interest of the creditors to get some return rather than none. Try to look at the big picture before criticizing.
13. Ink 2 says:
Suppliers not honouring contracts. . . customers not paying bills... their customers not paying ad space. It's not always about mismanagement. Come on people. There are many sides. This industry is tanking and if it's tanking, suppliers are in trouble too which affects the printers . . . .
12. Well Really ? says:
I would guess that the 6¢ on the dollar is payable in 3 payments over 18 months...... i bet the suppliers do not get the last 2 payments before the company closes... seen it before and will see it again....sadly
11. No Morals Any More says:
Ink, I agree with you. Ironestone had given work to suppliers for 40 years. In this economy it is better to get no work, than lots of work you aren't getting paid for. There are lots of honest small businesses that can't possibly restructure because they have everything on the line. The work Ironstone produced would have trickled down to those who can appreciate it, and pay their suppliers. It's called capitalism.
10. Tk says:
Everybody does it. Air Canada did it, GM did it with government support. Who cares? The CEO has five years or so to line his pocket, then it will be the next CEO's problem. Moral: how much is it worth? 6¢ on the dollar is more than 0¢ on the dollar in many restructures. With 6¢, I would put them under.
9. Ink In Veins says:
Another way to think about it is that Ironstone has been giving business to suppliers for more than 40 years and if it goes out, many of those suppliers won't be able to pick up new business elsewhere, i.e. in their best interest to keep the company going. Not a happy situation but better than the alternative?
8. Poor Suppliers says:
So now the suppliers lay off their employees because Ironstone who owes many suppliers millions and get away with it? The number of families affected by this is staggering. Shame on Ironstone and those that mismanaged it.
7. Upset says:
Wow... Please share the facts.
6. Printvet says:
Simply wrong. What are these same suppliers going to do for those who pay their bills in full and on time?
5. No Morals Any More. says:
This is a slap in the face to all the honest small businesses that work hard to pay their debts, or attempt to make arrangements to pay out debts over time. I'm sure the acceptance of 6% will make other companies in a similar situation look at this as a feasible and, at times, accepted route to go. Whatever happened to the shame and embarassment of restructuring and bankrupties? Hopefully their clientele will also view it this way and deal with a different company that has morals and values
4. Wow says:
Annoyed... sounds like you are taking it personally. Also sounds like you don't know the facts. Typical.
3. Annoyed says:
Why would these creditors settle for such a trivial amount? To allow the owners & management a few more years to pad their pockets, buy their cottages, boats etc... then fold completely? Should have just let the bums go under, Glazerman jumped ship for a reason!!
2. C K says:
Six cents on the dollar? Seriously? We should all mismanage our businesses and then screw the suppliers like this.
1. Jim says:
what a deal -pay of your debt at 6c on the dollar
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