LN24 bosses to discuss channel’s future amid financial worries

Francophone television news channel LN24 is negotiating with its creditors and shareholders to find a way to keep its continuous news service afloat as it encounters financial difficulties.

According to L'Echo, LN24 reportedly has accumulated losses of €6.8 million and a share capital of €11.3 million. Its board of directors has called for an extraordinary general meeting on 30 May to decide whether or not to continue the channel, which launched in 2019.

The aim is to reach an agreement on a plan to restructure LN24’s debts by waiving and/or converting them into capital. L’Echo also notes the need for a capital increase "sufficiently large to cover financing requirements until financial equilibrium is achieved".

Negotiations are expected to be held with the chain’s creditors - including media group IPM, Wallonie Entreprendre and Finance&Invest Brussels - and its existing shareholders.

LN24 chair François le Hodey, also chief executive of IPM, confirmed to L’Echo: “IPM is coordinating a capital increase to give LN24 every opportunity to establish itself as one of the leading television channels in the Belgian media landscape.”

But he warned that if the negotiations do not produce a result, given this "unmeasurable debt", "the board of directors will have to consider the scenarios of discontinuing operations or a judicial reorganisation procedure [which allows a company in financial difficulty to avoid bankruptcy].”

Photo: Nicolas Maeterlinck/Belga