The Globe and Mail reports in its Thursday edition that the potential merger of the country's two largest newspaper chains will lighten a crippling debt load for one of the partners, Postmedia, but industry experts say the union would do little to address their structural challenges. The Globe's Andrew Willis and Joe Castaldo write that Postmedia, which is making interest payments on its $288-million in debt by borrowing more money from hedge fund lenders, is in talks to combine with Torstar owner Nordstar Capital LP. Postmedia owns 130 properties, including papers in most major Canadian cities, while Nordstar owns 70 titles. Postmedia's past does not inspire confidence that a merger with Nordstar's newspaper properties will reverse its financial picture, said Prof. Dwayne Winseck at Carleton University. "Postmedia has now had a run at this since 2010," he said, referring to the company's formation out of the bankruptcy of Canwest Global Communications Corp. "The Postmedia properties have gone from being a venerable publishing group to being decimated." Past mergers in the newspaper industry have not resulted in financially sound companies. The companies must also contend with the federal Competition Bureau.