Tribune files amended plan of reorganisation

US publisher Tribune Company yesterday said that it has filed a Third Amended Plan of Reorganisation with the United States Bankruptcy Court for the District of Delaware.

Tribune Company is the publisher of Los Angeles Times, Chicago Tribune, The Baltimore Sun, Sun Sentinel (South Florida), Orlando Sentinel, Hartford Courant, The Morning Call and Daily Press. It also owns or operates 23 television stations.

the publisher said in a statement Tribune's amended plan continues to have the support of its co-proponents, the unsecured creditors committee, Oaktree Capital Management, LP, Angelo, Gordon & Co, L.P., and JPMorgan Chase Bank. 

The company is requesting a confirmation hearing in February, 2012 for a prompt exit from Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection.

In its October opinion, the court approved the $534 million settlement of claims arising from the company's 2007 leveraged buyout transactions, and the amended plan continues to implement that settlement and includes modifications that comply with the rulings and findings made by the court, The Tribune Company said in a statement. 

"The amended plan also contains an Allocation Dispute Protocol that would allow the court to resolve potential inter-creditor disputes regarding amounts that will be paid to various groups of creditors without interfering with the company's efforts to secure prompt confirmation of the amended plan and the company's subsequent emergence from bankruptcy," it said.

At the court-ordered status conference scheduled for Tuesday, November 22, the company said it will ask for a hearing in December,  when it will seek court approval for an accelerated timetable for approval of a Supplemental Disclosure Statement and a re-solicitation of votes limited to certain affected creditor classes.