Nikkan Kogyo Shimbun, a troubled business daily, said Tuesday it has agreed in principle to rehabilitate itself with financial assistance from Japanese investment fund MKS Partners Ltd.
Under the agreement, MKS Partners will cooperate with the newspaper publisher's main creditor bank, Resona Bank, in implementing a 4 billion yen debt-for-equity swap.
MKS Partners will accordingly take a stake in the firm.
The newspaper publisher said it also plans to seek loans from government-backed financial institutions, including Shoko Chukin Bank and the Japan Finance Corporation for Small Business, adding that it will map out a rehabilitation plan by the end of the year.
In May, the newspaper asked Resona Bank to bail it out of a business slump caused by falling subscriptions and decreasing advertising revenue.
Saddled with more than 10 billion yen in interest-bearing debts, the newspaper is in the process of restructuring, implementing an early retirement program for about 200 employees.