By Michael Oneal
| A Delaware bankruptcy judge on Thursday refused a request by
dissident
creditors in Tribune Co.’s bankruptcy case to delay voting on a proposed
reorganization plan until an independent examiner in the case can
submit his report in mid-July.

But U.S. Bankruptcy Judge Kevin Carey also postponed until May 28
approval of a voluminous document called a “disclosure statement”  that
must precede that vote, ordering Tribune Co. to address creditor
concerns that the statement doesn’t include enough salient information
to evaluate the risks associated with the settlement.

The disclosure statement is supposed to describe the company’s proposed
plan of reorganization and provide all relevant information about it –
including opposing viewpoints — so creditors in the case can make an
informed vote on plan.

Several groups of creditors opposed to a
settlement proposed in April had suggested that Carey postpone
consideration of the document — and thereby push off voting — until an
independent examiner can issue his report on key legal issues
surrounding a controversial 2007 leveraged buyout at the center of the
case. That report, they argued, could provide voting creditors with
essential information on the fairness of the settlement.

Carey,
however, stuck to a schedule that gives creditors several months to cast
their vote and will provide them with access to the examiner’s report
when it is due on July 12. If the schedule holds, voting would conclude
by the end of July and then a series of confirmation hearings on the
restructuring plan would be held the week of Aug. 16.

At the same
time, Carey delayed approving the disclosure statement for a week
partly so the various creditor constituencies opposed to the settlement
could provide a series of three-page documents outlining why they think
the strength or weakness of the legal issues surrounding the LBO make
the settlement unfair in one respect or another. Those documents will be
included in the disclosure statement that will be distributed to all
creditors once the document is approved.

Carey also said that
Tribune Co. would have to provide specifics on a controversial
management bonus plan for the company’s topmost executives that in its
present form has even drawn opposition from two of the plan’s key
supporters: lender JP Morgan Chase and hedge fund Angelo, Gordon &
Co.

The back and forth highlights that Tribune Co., which owns
the Chicago Tribune, Los Angeles Times and other media properties, still
faces significant hurdles in its efforts to exit bankruptcy later this
year as a public company owned by its creditors.

In an aside from
the bench, Carey acknowledged that the sharp differences among Tribune
Co. creditors have not softened over months of negotiations, adding risk
to the company’s decision to forge ahead toward the confirmation
hearings without a truly “global” settlement.

At the moment, the
company has the exclusive right to propose a plan, but Carey said if it
can’t win enough support to get its plan confirmed in August, others
will get their shot.

“I view it as a risk the debtors are willing
to take and I’m inclined to let them take it,” Carey said. “We’ll see
how the process goes.”