Mobile UPI  |   About UPI  |   UPI en Español  |   UPI Arabic  |   UPIU  |   My Account
Search:
Go

Tribune Co. files for Chapter 11

|
|
 
  
The Chicago Tribune company corporate headquarters stands in downtown Chicago on April 2, 2007. (UPI Photo/Brian Kersey) 
License photo
Published: Dec. 8, 2008 at 3:19 PM
Advertisement

CHICAGO, Dec. 8 (UPI) -- The Tribune Co., owners of the Chicago Tribune and the Los Angeles Times, filed for bankruptcy protection Monday in the wake of falling revenues.

The company, which has announced several staff reductions in recent months, was working with investment bank Lazard and law firm Sidley Austin to find financial options, the Chicago Tribune reported.

The company filed on the day a $70 million unsecured debt came due. It has been struggling to work its way through a $13 billion debt incurred when real estate businessman Sam Zell bought the company in a leveraged buyout a year ago, the newspaper said.

The company reportedly had $300 million cash on hand, but executives could not find lenders willing to help it restructure its debt. Another $512 million principle payment on the leveraged bailout is due in June, the Los Angeles Times reported.

The company's filing in a Delaware court said it owed $13 billion against company assets of $7.6 billion. Its ownership of the Chicago Cubs was not part of the filing, the report said.

The Cubs were to be sold earlier this year, but the economic downturn stalled that sale, which is expected to take place next year, the Times said.

Topics: Sidley Austin
© 2008 United Press International, Inc. All Rights Reserved. Any reproduction, republication, redistribution and/or modification of any UPI content is expressly prohibited without UPI's prior written consent.

Order reprints
  
Join the conversation
Most Popular Collections
Protesters, police clash at NATO summit Notable deaths of 2012 2012 Billboard Music Awards
The 137th Preakness Stakes Annual Solar eclipse occurs in U.S. Chen Guangcheng arrives in the U.S.
Additional Business News Stories
1 of 29
FORT LAUDERDALE HOSTS FLEET WEEK
View Caption
Crew members of the USS Kearsarge, Bryane Ingram, Timothy Williams, Curtilious Ingram and Yosuf Hill (l to r) prepare for shore leave shortly after docking at Port Everglades in Ft. Lauderdale, Florida on April 30, 2007. The Kearsarge and her crew will participate in Fleet Week USA as part of the McDonalds Air and Sea Show. (UPI Photo/Joe Marino-Bill Cantrell)
fark
Vintage ventriloquism portraits.. pleasant dreams
R.O.U.S.s do exist, and they're ravaging Gough island
SCOTUS to us all: suck it twice
This could be bad news if you have triskaidekaphobia, taphephobia, thanatophobia, placophobia or,...
Boy eats his mom out of house and home because he has an extreme disorder called nom.. nom.. nom...
Since everything else is fine with the world: Here are pets doing yoga. Relax and meditate with...