The financial details of the deal

Question: What was the winning bid in this week's bankruptcy auction of Philadelphia Newspapers L.L.C.?

Answer: The headline number is $139 million, but that does not mean the winning bidders agreed to pay that much in cash.

Q: If the bid is not all cash, what else is included?

A: One component of the price is the company's real estate, including its building at 400 N. Broad St. and its printing plant near Conshohocken, which was valued at $30 million. The new owners might ultimately decide to sell the real estate later to recoup more of the $318 million in debt that banks and other financial institutions were owed when the company filed for bankruptcy protection in February 2009.

Q: How much cash is in the bid?

A: The winning bidders have agreed to pay $69 million in cash to buy out other holders of the company's debt who no longer want to be involved with the newspapers.

Q: Are there any loans in the bid?

A: Yes, the winning bidders are providing loan proceeds that total $36 million.

Q: Adding $30 million in real estate, $69 million in cash and a $36 million loan totals only $135 million. Where does the other $4 million come from?

A: The lenders of the $36 million, who are also new owners of the company, will provide $36 million in cash, which is the proceeds of a $39.2 million loan. It is known as a discounted loan, designed to boost returns to the lenders.

Q: So, when the company comes out of bankruptcy, which should happen later this year, how much debt will it be carrying?

A: The company will have to repay that $39.2 million in debt to a group of its owners.