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Quebecor World faces delisting amid cash crisis Date: 1/17/2008 |
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TORONTO, Jan 17 (Reuters) - The Toronto Stock Exchange said on Thursday it was reviewing whether shares of Quebecor World Inc (IQW.TO: Quote, Profile, Research) should be delisted, as the specter of insolvency continued to loom large over the battered commercial printer. In a terse statement, the TSX said Quebecor World has been granted 30 days in which to regain compliance with the exchange's listing requirements. The announcement did not specify which requirements have been violated. "We are not discussing the details of the review," a TSX spokesman said. However, the move comes as the company's shares continue to set new lows, with investors selling the stock in droves amid mounting concerns over Quebecor World's strained balance sheet. It was trading at just 27 Canadian cents on Thursday, a tiny fraction of the C$17.25 it hit last February. Earlier this month, Quebecor World shares listed on the New York Stock Exchange were suspended after they sank below the Big Board's $1.05 price threshold. The 30-day TSX deadline is the latest to be imposed on the company. It already faces a slate of demands from its banks regarding finding new sources of financing. Montreal-based Quebecor World prints products such as books, magazines, advertising inserts and direct-mail materials. It has about 28,000 employees around the world. Its fortunes have suffered as online publishing gains prominence and more readers turn to the Internet and electronic media for news, leisure reading and entertainment. It has been offered a C$400 million rescue package by parent Quebecor Inc (QBRa.TO: Quote, Profile, Research)(QBRb.TO: Quote, Profile, Research) and a private equity fund managed by Brookfield Asset Management (BAMa.TO: Quote, Profile, Research), but analysts say its existing lenders are unlikely to accept the deal. The banks, rather than approving the proposal, may seek to push for debtor-in-possession refinancing, which would give them more control, analysts have said. That could be followed by Quebecor World filing for protection from creditors. The deadline for obtaining the banks' backing for the Quebecor-Brookfield offer and satisfying a number of related conditions passed on Wednesday night. However, Quebecor World said late Wednesday it has extended that deadline to 9 a.m. on Jan. 20. |
| Source: Reuters.com |
