The New York Times building

Mexican billionaire Carlos Slim Helu is investing $250 million in The New York Times Co., the company said in a statement Monday.

Mr. Slim, among the wealthiest men in the world, already owns 6.9% of the Times Company. He will invest the money in the form of six-year notes with warrants that are convertible into common shares; the company will use it to refinance its existing debt, writes The New York Times (via MediaBuyerPlanner).

The New York Times Company has approaching deadlines to pay off $1.1 billion in debt in the next few years, and one of its two $400 million revolving credit lines is set to expire in May. It has put its stake in the Boston Red Sox up for sale and plans to borrow as much as $225 million against its new Manhattan headquarters.

Mr. Slim gains no representation on the company's board, nor will he receive special voting rights like the Sulzberger family has. Still, when he exercises the warrants, he will own up to 17% of the common shares outstanding. The Sulzbergers own about 19%.

"They need all of the fuel they can get to keep going," Richard Dorfman, managing director of investment firm Richard Alan Inc., is quoted as saying in the Los Angeles Times. Dorfman, who spoke before the announcement, said he sold the remainder of his stock in New York Times in December.

The New York Times has spent the last several months prioritizing its online offering — beefing up social content on NYTimes.com, and plugging the site with a guerrilla campaign on YouTube.

A recent ContentNext report claims that if The New York Times become a web-only property, it would need 1.3 billion page views per month in order to survive.