Slim is in for newspapers. Not only is the Times (of Seattle) getting slimmer and slimmer, but the Times (of New York) is getting slim too with Mexican billionaire Carlos Slim. Silicon Alley Insider reports:
Carlos Slim has loaned the New York Times (NYT) $250 million. This further lessens the immediate cash crisis and should give the company another year or so of breathing room. As we expected, however, the money was breathtakingly expensive.
The reckoning in May has been put off, but at significant cost:
We estimate that the New York Times Company will need about $200 million of cash this year and about $500 million in each of the next two years. Slim’s money, combined with some of the company’s other recent cash-raising initiatives, should get it deep into 2010.
This money will not, however, solve the company’s long-term viability problem. It will also not allow the company to turn cash-flow positive anytime soon: On the contrary, the additional interest load combined with the ongoing deterioration of the business will increase the amount of cash the company burns each year.