A receiver has been appointed to the Sunday Tribune after 29.9% shareholder Independent News & Media decided that it could no longer fund the weekly paper.
INM, which is also the Sunday Tribune's largest creditor, has been providing loans of up to €2.5m a year to keep the loss-making newspaper afloat. 43 people are employed at the newspaper.
INM said it would fund staff salaries until the end of this month, and would also finance the receivership process. The receiver, insolvency specialist McStay Luby, will be able to seek new investment in the company.
The Sunday Tribune is expected to announce tomorrow whether or not the newspaper will be published on Sunday. Tribune chairman Gordon Colleary blamed a fall in advertising and circulation for the paper's difficulties.
'INM remains hopeful that new investors may emerge to safeguard the future of this quality Sunday title,' a statement from INM said.
But the Sunday Tribune has been loss-making in a crowded market where there are 17 Sunday newspaper titles. INM has been an investor in the Sunday Tribune since 1992.
Accounts from Tribune Newspapers for 2009 show that the company's net debt at the end of the year was just over €48m, while the company's accumulated losses were €62.7m. The shareholders' deficit was €59m.
