* Judge to confirm 4th amended plan once revisions made
* Judge overrules creditors’ objections
* Chicago Tribune, LA Times owner filed Chapter 11 in 2008
By Jonathan Stempel
July 13 (Reuters) – Tribune Co has won court approval to
emerge from bankruptcy, more than 3-1/2 years after seeking
Chapter 11 protection following a leveraged buyout that saddled
the publisher of the Chicago Tribune and Los Angeles Times with
too much debt.
U.S. Bankruptcy Judge Kevin Carey in Wilmington, Delaware,
on Friday overruled objections to the plan by a variety of
creditors. He said he would confirm Tribune’s fourth amended
reorganization plan once some revisions were made.
The reorganization will turn over ownership of Tribune to a
group of lenders led by JPMorgan Chase & Co, the hedge
fund Oaktree Capital Management LP, and Angelo, Gordon & Co,
which invests in distressed companies. They will appoint
Tribune’s seven-member board.
Carey had rejected an earlier version of Tribune’s
bankruptcy plan last October.
In an opinion dated Friday, he characterized Tribune’s path
to emergence as having been an “arduous journey.”
Tribune had been taken private in an $8.2 billion leveraged
buyout in 2007 by the real estate investor Sam Zell. It filed
for Chapter 11 protection from creditors on Dec. 8, 2008.
The company still owns 23 television stations, including the
superstation WGN in its hometown of Chicago.
Approval of the bankruptcy plan clears the way for Tribune
to seek formal Federal Communications Commission approval to
transfer its broadcast licenses to new owners. Tribune’s lawyers
have said the process can take several months.
The case is In re: Tribune Co et al, U.S. Bankruptcy Court,
District of Delaware, No. 08-13141.
