Inside these posts: LBO

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Judge gives creditors right to sue Zell, others

A bankruptcy judge on Friday granted Tribune Co.’s  official committee of unsecured creditors authority to make the opening moves in long-threatened litigation over the 2007 leveraged buyout blamed for the media company’s tumble into Chapter 11.

Judge Kevin Carey said he would sign off on an order acknowledging the official committee is the proper body to bring claims against lenders, executives and other leaders of the embattled media company, as well as advisers who reaped millions in fees from the LBO. Get the full story »

Buffett not interested in buying from LBO firms

Bloomberg News| Billionaire investor Warren Buffett says he won’t shop for takeover candidates at leverage buyout firms, because “don’t know the business.”

“We have an entrance strategy,” Buffett said, and they have an exit one.

Tribune Co. creditors seek to sue Zell over LBO

The unsecured creditor’s committee in Tribune Co.’s bankruptcy case asked a Delaware judge Monday for the right to sue Chicago real estate magnate Sam Zell, company officials and others who participated in the company’s ill-fated 2007 leveraged buyout. Get the full story »

Will Eisner be Tribune Co.’s next chairman?

Former Disney CEO Michael Eisner on July 7, 2010. (AP Photo/Nati Harnik)

By Dawn C. Chmielewski, Michael Oneal and Sallie Hofmeister

Former Walt Disney Co. Chief Executive Michael Eisner is in discussions that could lead to his return to the media spotlight — as chairman of the now-bankrupt Tribune Co.

The Chicago-based media company’s largest creditors are having preliminary conversations with prospective candidates who could operate Tribune Co. once it emerges from bankruptcy, according to several people with knowledge of the situation.

Eisner, who has been dabbling in the digital world as an investor since stepping down from Disney in 2005, is among the candidates under consideration to replace Chicago real estate magnate Sam Zell as chairman of the reorganized company. Get the full story »

Tribune Co. asks bankruptcy judge for more time

Tribune Co., citing “vigorous negotiations” toward a new settlement with its creditors, asked the judge in its bankruptcy case for more time to work out a reorganization plan that “would maximize consensus” around a deal.

The move comes as the various bickering parties in the case realign their positions based on the findings contained in an independent examiner’s report studying claims surrounding the Chicago media conglomerate’s 2007 leveraged buyout.

That report, issued late last month, suggested that the $8.2 billion LBO orchestrated by Chicago real estate magnate Sam Zell may have rendered the company insolvent from Day 1, lending support to various creditors’ arguments. Get the full story »