Court suspends closure of owner of Visão

The court suspended the official communication of the closure of Trust in News (TiN), which had been requested by the insolvency administrator, pending effective information from the latter or a possible decision by a creditors' meeting.

“On August 4, the court granted my request to postpone the official communication to the AT [Tax Authority] of the closure of the activity,” said the insolvency administrator in writing when contacted by Lusa on the matter.

On July 28, André Pais requested the temporary suspension until October 8 at the latest of the decision to close down the activity of the owner of Visão , among other titles, after, on July 18, the court decided not to approve the recovery plan and ordered the seizure and liquidation of the asset, as well as the closure of the activity.

Regarding the insolvency administrator's request, “as such, as requested, I suspend the decision to officially communicate the closure of the debtor's activity, under the terms and for the purposes of the provisions of article 65, paragraph 3, of the CIRE”, reads the ruling, to which Lusa had access.

“I further determine that this communication awaits effective information from the insolvency administrator regarding the cessation of the insolvent company’s activity, or any decision by the creditors’ meeting to that effect,” the court said.

Regarding the request of July 25, which was presented by a group of Visão workers, “a period of 10 days is set for the insolvency administrator and the creditors’ committee to make a statement”.

Eleven Visão employees, including the director, asked the court to call a new meeting of creditors of Trust in News with two points, including that the magazine continue to operate until its sale.

According to the request, which Lusa had access to this Friday, the group of journalists considers that, according to their assessment, “it justifies that the court can — and should — call a new creditors' meeting”, taking into account two points.

The first is the “possibility of the insolvency plan being approved, excluding the clause” that the court “considered illegal”.

Alternatively, “even if this possibility is not viable, authorization is granted so that, until the sale of the Visão title, the magazine can remain in operation, under the aegis of the insolvency administrator, considering the plan that was submitted to him for consideration on this date, with the other conditions that may be approved at this meeting of creditors”, reads the document.

At the same time, the group of journalists admits to analyzing the possibility of keeping the magazine, but so far there is nothing new.

Meanwhile, Luís Delgado, TiN's sole shareholder, appealed the decision not to approve the company's insolvency plan.

Founded in 2017, Trust in News owns 16 media outlets, in print and digital platforms, such as Exame, Caras, Courrier Internacional, Jornal de Letras, Activa, Telenovelas, TV Mais, among others.