22.7 Finally: the newspaper industry continues to be in some disarray

The motiviation for conducting this study was borne from the public discussion and the legal proceedings generated by the leveraged buyout of PCM Uitgevers in 2004. The recent developments around the NRC Handelsblad, which was still being published by PCM in 2004, demonstrate that financing and capital withdrawal by shareholders continues to be a current topic. The NRC is currently in the hands of investment company Egeria and ‘media tycoon’ Derk Sauer. At the time of this book’s completion, a fierce discussion was raging between the NRC’s works council and its directors and shareholders regarding the distribution of a considerable super dividend of almost two-and-a-half times the annual profit, even though the paper’s earning model is under pressure and there have been several cuts in the paper’s staffing levels. According to the Works Council, the distribution would erode the company’s solvency and liquidity position, while the shareholders take the position that the capital withdrawal is in line with the agreements made when they became shareholders. This dispute illustrates all the more the interest of a clear normative framework in re the shareholder’s discretion to decide on the financing of the company.