Tribune board sets committee to oversee bankruptcy

By IBTimes Staff Reporter | August 31 2010 3:40 PM

Tribune Co's board has formed a special committee to oversee the media company's bankruptcy, which unraveled this month following an investigation of the company's 2007 leveraged buyout.

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The special committee will include four independent directors of the company who were appointed after real estate developer Sam Zell led his buyout of the company, which many creditors blame for its 2008 bankruptcy, according to a bankruptcy court filing.

The committee's formation was disclosed in a court request to employ the Jones Day law firm to advise the committee. Tribune Co is being advised by Sidley Austin.

The bankruptcy had been directed by lenders and a group of senior bondholders.

However, the agreement between those two groups crumbled following an independent examiner's report that found billions of dollars of lenders' claims could be disqualified.

The four independent directors are Mark Shapiro, Jeffrey Berg, Maggie Wilderotter and Frank Wood, according to court documents.

The case is In Re Tribune Co, U.S. Bankruptcy Court, District of Delaware, No. 08-13141.

(Reporting by Tom Hals; Additional reporting by Jonathan Stempel in New York; Editing by Gerald E. McCormick)