Judge sets terms of Daytona newspaper's buyout of Cox

<p>The owners of The Daytona Beach News-Journal can pay their corporate partner, Cox Enterprises Inc., $129.2 million in installments over five years to buy out the company, a judge ruled.</p><p>The ruling Wednesday sets the terms of the sale, which would end the 37-year relationship between Atlanta-based Cox and the newspaper. The judge had set the value of the buyout back in June, but an attorney for the paper, Jon Kaney, said an appeal was planned.</p><p>"I don't believe the company will be able to carry the burden this order puts on us," Kaney told the News-Journal.</p><p>In an eight-page order, U.S. District Judge John Antoon II set terms of the sale, including restrictions on the New-Journal during the time when it is paying the company. The paper will also have to pay interest on the amount.</p><p>Cox owns nearly half of the News-Journal and had sued the newspaper's board of directors, accusing them of wasting $13 million for naming rights to a community arts center in Daytona Beach. The suit prompted the paper to initiate the buyout.</p><p>The News-Journal had argued it should pay $29.4 million, based on what the company would be worth if it continued operating as it has in the past.</p><p>An attorney for Cox, John A. DeVault III, said they would have preferred to have the payment up front but understand the judge's order.</p>