Having heatedly taken issue with recent ratings downgrades by both Moody’s and Standard & Poor’s, Houghton Mifflin Harcourt parent company Education Media & Publishing is talking to its primary lenders–who hold $4.3 billion in debt–about renegotiating the terms to loosen the multiples in their covenants. As the FT reports, the notes currently require that EMP’s debt be no more than 8.75 times ebidta by March 31. The company seeks to raise that multiple to 9.95 times earnings, and wants to raise the March 2010 target from 6.5 times ebitda to a 7.45 multiple. Lenders are being offered a small fee […]