Friday, October 29, 2010

Tribune Company Files Plan of Reorganization

October 23rd, 2010

Tribune Company announced today that it has filed with the United States Bankruptcy Court for the District of Delaware, a Plan of Reorganization that would keep the company intact, sharply reduce its debt, and turn ownership over to holders of the company’s Initial and Incremental Term Loans.

The Plan, which must still be approved by Tribune creditors and the Court, incorporates the terms of two previously announced settlement agreements endorsed by the mediator and reached by its Unsecured Creditors Committee, Oaktree Capital Management, L.P., Angelo, Gordon & Co, L.P., and JPMorgan Chase Bank.

“We are pleased to be able to put before the court and our creditors the previously announced settlement of LBO claims in a plan that maximizes the value of the bankruptcy estates, preserves all stakeholders’ legitimate entitlements and enables the company to conclude its bankruptcy proceedings as soon as possible,” said Don Liebentritt, Tribune’s Chief Restructuring Officer. “In addition, we believe this plan has broad support within the senior lender class, including from an ad hoc group of lenders called the Credit Agreement Lenders, which collectively represents approximately $5 billion of Initial and Incremental term Loans—Oaktree, and Angelo, Gordon, are part of this ad hoc group.”

Documents filed with the plan contain highlights of the company’s recent and projected financial performance. The company expects operating cash flow for full year 2010 to be $617 million, approximately $123 million higher than 2009*.

Under the Plan, Tribune expects to continue its recently implemented employee retirement plan, featuring a 401(k) plan with company matching contributions and an annual discretionary profit-sharing contribution based on the achievement of certain financial goals; the company’s employee stock ownership plan (ESOP) would terminate and the shares held by the ESOP and in employee accounts would be extinguished.

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