Tribune Bondholders Fault Zell Takeover (Dinosaur Media DeathWatch™)

The Wall Street Journal ^ | August 27, 2009 | JEFFREY MCCRACKEN, MIKE SPECTOR and SHIRA OVIDE

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Disgruntled Tribune Co. bondholders have asked a U.S. bankruptcy judge to let them investigate Sam Zell's 2007 buyout of the newspaper-and-television chain in an effort to derail a plan that would hand the company over to its banks.

The filing, made late Wednesday, calls the $8.2 billion transaction a "fraudulent conveyance" that left Tribune insolvent from the onset of the 2007 deal. It accuses senior lenders led by J.P. Morgan Chase & Co. of completing a leveraged buyout they should have known would push the company into bankruptcy.

"Fraudulent conveyance" is a legal term most often used in bankruptcy court, in which creditors allege a company has used assets in a way unfair to creditors. In the context of leveraged buyouts, creditors can argue a deal loaded up a company with too much debt, leaving it undercapitalized and unable to meet future obligations.

The filing will seek to slow or nullify an advancing plan for Tribune to exit from bankruptcy protection with J.P. Morgan, Bank of America Corp.'s Merrill Lynch and other banks owning nearly all of Tribune in return for the banks forgiving about $8 billion in debt.

Bondholders would likely receive only a sliver of new equity under the deal. The bondholders seeking to investigate Mr. Zell's buyout of Tribune represent more than 18% of the company's bond debt, according to the court filing. The bondholder's requested investigation centers around some $1.26 billion in notes issued between 1992 and 1997.

Bondholders have suggested the judge appoint an independent examiner to probe the deal if their request to conduct the investigation themselves is denied.

The move by Tribune's bondholders could become common in the months ahead, as many big leveraged buyouts struck during the credit boom collapse into bankruptcy.

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Caveat Emptor

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[GeronL]

They’re not even politicians and they are corrupt. Just like when liberals run banks and other things, they are always going to be corrupt becasuse they think thats how the game is played.

[GeronL]

I want to start a weekly 8-page newspaper with no pictures and look like they did in the 1850’s. Wouldn’t that be the most interesting-looking paper in the country?

[abb]

You probably do that very thing online and your publication cost would be close to zero, except for the cost of your labor writing the stories, etc.

[GeronL]

I kind of like those e-papers you can turn the page on, with sound effect. Once in a while I check out the one from the Washington Examiner. The Washington Times charges $39 a year for e-mail delivery of theirs. For the WashTimes I would seriously consider it. I know it cost them less than a penny to send me that but still.

[abb]

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Birmingham Post editor: Going weekly is the best option

http://www.niemanlab.org/2009/08/micropayments-and-the-power-of-free/
Micropayments and the power of free

[ken5050]

Maybe the Birmingham Post will resort to publishing the week of Feb 29th..

[abb]

http://www.slate.com/id/2226419/pagenum/all/
Ink Hole
Alex S. Jones thinks failing journalism makes failing democracy. So why won’t he prove it?

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http://www.poynter.org/content/content_view.asp?id=169115
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http://www.cjr.org/resources/index.php
CJR’s guide to what the major media companies own.

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http://thephoenix.com/Boston/News/88874-Short-sighted/
The Projo ‘s ultra-local approach could save the paper — or spell its demise

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Ping to post #1

[stephenjohnbanker]

Fraudulent conveyance won’t fly. As you said, “caveat emptor”