Three months ago, the Newspaper Association of America released its estimated advertising income review. The review catalogued the spending activities of the newspaper industry’s biggest inventory buyers, showing how major companies and political powers spend their print advertising budget.

The results show a startling, if somewhat expected, conclusion. The newspaper industry has faced years of reduced spending, with advertising revenues shrinking from almost $50 billion in 2000 to just over $25 billion last year.

For the Philadelphia Enquirer, it appears that the near constant decline in advertising expenditure took its toll. The newspaper closed its doors in February 2009 – one of several business bankruptcy cases in the newspaper industry. Just three years before its financial collapse, the paper had been purchased by a Philadelphia-based holdings company for over $500 million.

The company’s assets are to be sold for approximately $139 million over the coming weeks, giving the publishing group’s previous investors a limited return on their financial input. Investment groups Angelo Gordon & Co and Credit Suisse Group AG currently lead bidding on the newspaper’s assets, and plan to complete the sale and asset transfer within the next three months.