Houghton Mifflin Harcourt has initiated bankruptcy proceedings, The New York Times reports.
The Boston-based education and trade publisher will file for protection under Chapter 11 in order to wipe out a debt of approximately $3.1 million.
From the NYT:
The publisher has struggled financially for years, laden with debt that was taken on when Education Media and Publishing Group, an Irish private-equity concern, borrowed heavily to finance the acquisitions of Houghton Mifflin in 2006 and Harcourt in 2007.
More than 70 percent of Houghton Mifflin Harcourt’s senior lenders and bondholders have agreed to the terms of the restructuring plan, which would convert its existing long-term debt to equity, the company said in a statement. … Employees will be paid as usual, there are no plans for layoffs and the company has more than $135 million in cash on hand to pay for operating costs.
The company expects the process to be completed by June.