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Troubled Polish press distributor awaiting takeover: report

31.10.2019 15:20
Polish newspaper distribution company Ruch, once a market giant, is on its last legs and waiting to be taken over by the country's largest fuel firm, a business daily reported on Thursday.
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The financially strapped Ruch has been undergoing restructuring over the past year or so, but the company is in worse shape now than it was when the restructuring effort started in September 2018, the Puls Biznesu newspaper reported.

At the end of August this year, a court approved an arrangement with creditors under which the company’s debt was expected to be reduced substantially—from PLN 162 million (EUR 38 million, USD 42 million) to PLN 31 million, according to Puls Biznesu.

But the clock is ticking and the troubled press distributor has a knife to its throat, the paper said.

It added that Ruch is waiting anxiously to be taken over by state-controlled fuel giant PKN Orlen, an acquisition that must be approved by the country’s antitrust authority.

Ruch is a well-known brand in Poland, with a tradition going back 100 years.

The company continues to hold a major share in the Polish press distribution market, but newspaper circulation has been declining amid a shift to online news.

(gs/pk)

Source: Puls Biznesu