Tribune Files Plan of Reorganization

CHICAGO, April 12 /PRNewswire/ -- Tribune Company today filed with the United States Bankruptcy Court for the District of Delaware, a Plan of Reorganization ("Plan") that would keep the company intact, sharply reduce its debt, and provide it with sufficient liquidity to expand its business in the future.  

Tribune filed a voluntary petition under Chapter 11 of the U.S. Bankruptcy Code in December 2008, and has continued operating its newspapers, broadcasting assets and interactive properties without interruption since that time.  The Plan, which must still be approved by Tribune creditors and the Court, is expected to enable the company to emerge from bankruptcy later this year.

"Tribune's leadership team and employees have done an outstanding job of stabilizing and refocusing the company's business," said Sam Zell, chairman.  "Today's filing represents a significant and positive step forward for the business."

Tribune's chief executive officer, Randy Michaels, said, "We continue to transform Tribune into an industry-leading media company, improving our competitive position. This Plan better positions us to continue serving our users, readers, viewers, listeners and advertisers across our media platforms and gives us an opportunity to expand our business upon emergence from a solid financial base."  

Tribune expects to continue its recently implemented employee retirement plan, featuring a 401(k) with a company match and a discretionary profit-sharing allocation.  Under the Plan, the company's employee stock ownership plan would terminate and the shares held by the ESOP and in employee accounts would be extinguished.

"We're looking forward to emerging from Chapter 11 and building on the momentum we've generated," said Michaels.

TRIBUNE is an industry-leading multimedia company, operating businesses in publishing, interactive and broadcasting. In publishing, Tribune's leading daily newspapers include the Los Angeles Times, Chicago Tribune, The Baltimore Sun, Sun Sentinel (South Florida), Orlando Sentinel, Hartford Courant, Morning Call and Daily Press. The company's broadcasting group operates 23 television stations, WGN America on national cable and Chicago's WGN-AM.  Popular news and information websites complement Tribune's print and broadcast properties and extend the company's nationwide audience. At Tribune we take what we do seriously and with a great deal of pride. We also value the creative spirit and nurture a corporate culture that doesn't take itself too seriously.

SOURCE Tribune Company