According to the Wall Street Journal, turnaround expert Joseph A. Bondi is bumming out folks at 425 Portland by speculating the Star Tribune might become a “Chapter 22” — a cute financial-world expression for businesses that emerge from Chapter 11 bankruptcy, only to return.
In a two–parter I did last month questioning the Strib’s still hefty-debt and optimistic sales projections, Carlson School financial prof Andrew Winton used that exact phrase — actually, he referred to it as “Chapter 22 or even Chapter 33” — for businesses such as United Airlines US Airways that go in and out of bankruptcy repeatedly.
At this point, everyone is speculating, but at least Winton isn’t alone. A Strib spokesman declined to comment to the Journal, citing “unprofessional speculation.”