The decision on the insolvency plan was pending written votes required by several creditors, including key entities like the Ministry of Finance and Social Security, whose voting period concluded on Friday. Reports indicated that both the Ministry of Finance and Social Security cast favorable votes.
The total value of credits for voting purposes stands at 35.2 million euros, with nearly half attributed to the Tax Authority and Social Security Institute.
The court is now tasked with announcing the overall voting outcome and deciding on the plan’s ratification.
According to the union delegate at Visão, employees received 30% of their April salary with an additional 35% to be disbursed by the start of next week. There is no payment timeline for the remaining amount.
The plan by TiN, which owns publications like Visão and Exame, includes an injection of up to 1.5 million euros by its sole shareholder, Luís Delgado.
Documentation reveals TiN’s proposal to creditors for a “commitment to inject up to 1.5 million euros, gradually, according to the company’s needs to strengthen liquidity,” from the sole shareholder.
The plan also encompasses the suspension, licensing, or sale of deficit-causing publications like TV Mais, Telenovelas, Caras Decoração, Prima, Visão Saúde, Visão Surf, and This is Portugal. Except for Telenovelas, all other publications have already been suspended.
Adjustments in the frequency of some magazines may occur, retaining only the most profitable ones, alongside a physical space reduction by 70% (50% already achieved) and the closure of the Porto office.
The workforce will be reduced “in proportion to publication suspensions, with an internal restructuring.” The company currently employs 104 workers and estimates that “staff costs can’t exceed 250,000 euros/month, achievable with the help and intervention of the insolvency administrator.”
Payment of debts proposed involves phased settlement, with the Tax Authority and Social Security over 150 installments, alongside “a payment plan from 12 to 15 years for common and secured creditors” and the “possibility of using advertising barter to pay part of the debts.”
To boost revenue, the plan proposes “increasing digital subscriptions and improving the e-commerce platform, strategic partnerships with other editorial groups,” and exploring “new content formats such as podcasts and videos,” and “brand licensing to generate additional income.”
The restructuring aims to “gradually improve profitability, with a return to positive results expected in the medium term,” avoiding liquidation while “preserving jobs and assets.” It adjusts “the business model to a more sustainable format, aligned with digital trends,” ensuring “creditors’ payment, comparatively to a liquidation scenario where many wouldn’t recover their credits.”
The plan also includes the “immediate creation of a task force with two editorial directors, a commercial director, a financial director, and an HR director, tasked with re-analyzing all costs and contracts that can be renegotiated or terminated without penalties for the company, and presenting measures and suggestions to increase revenues, considering existing resources” and learning from domestic and international best practices. This group’s suggestions “will be implemented following approval by management and the insolvency administrator.”
The proposal for TiN’s continuity, presented with an insolvency plan within 30 days, was approved at a creditors meeting on January 29, allowing titles to remain active.
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