Back in February, we passed along the news that Modern Luxury Media had defaulted on about $120 million in debt, which led its lenders to oust the magazine chain’s founder and assume control. I speculated at the time what this move would mean to Modern Luxury Dallas. Well, now we know what it means — kinda. Because the New York Post is reporting that MLM is now on the block. Its owners are crowing about how now is a great time to sell because ad revenues bounced up 15 percent in their May issues across the country and how “several external parties” have shown interest in buying the media property.
I certainly hope that’s true. A rising tide lifts all boats and so forth. But I’m more inclined to believe that this is a case of banks doing what banks do. They see a liability on their balance sheet. Rather than manage it (What do banks know about publishing?), they are attempting to unload it. This isn’t an opportunity to make money; it’s time to cut their losses.
