RIGA — Latvian publishing house Mediju Nams, which operates the country’s second-largest newspaper by circulation Neatkarīgā Rīta Avīzes was bought out by its management last week, the company announced Wednesday.

MN Mediji bought out 100 percent of Mediju Nams shares owned by Lasco Investment, a Latvian shipping company. Armands Puče, chairman of the company board, board member Lilita Seimuškāne, and the analytical department head Uldis Dreiblats formed MN Mediji owning 33 percent each. The exact amount of the transaction is not being disclosed, although in an interview with the daily newspaper Diena Puče said the transaction was measured in thousands, not millions of lats and that more than half of the acquisition was funded with bank loans.

“I would like to call it an opportunity, as smart people say — the crisis could help strengthen the basis for good business,” Puče said in a statement to the press. “To reduce the amount of expense, there will be a structural change in the number of employees. In the long term we see good prospects in quality journalism that will always be a competitive product.”

Neatkarīgā Rīta Avīzes recently made headlines when its Riga office was robbed at the beginning of the year in what may be an act of press intimidation. A police investigation is ongoing.