Visit our Filed page for categories. To browse by specific topic, see our Inside page. For a list of companies covered on this site, visit our Companies page.
Tribune Co. delayed filing anticipated amendments to its bankruptcy restructuring plan Friday, citing ongoing negotiations with creditors.
A week ago, in the wake of collapsed talks toward a new settlement in the case, Tribune Co. lawyers told a Delaware bankruptcy judge that the company would file plan amendments by Friday and provide suggestions for new schedule for voting and confirmation hearings on the revised plan. Get the full story »
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 »
Midwest Banc Holdings Inc. filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection Tuesday, listing $9.7 million in assets and $144.7 million in debt in a filing in U.S. Bankruptcy Court in Chicago.
General Growth Properties Inc. has struck a deal for Brookfield Advisors LP to manage the new real-estate company it plans to spin off when it exits Chapter 11 protection.
The mall owner is tapping Brookfield Advisors to prepare the company to separate from the nation’s second-largest mall owner and become publicly traded, according to papers filed Monday with the U.S. Bankruptcy Court in Manhattan. Get the full story »
Spa Chakra at the Palmer House. (Tribune file photo)
Spa Chakra at the Palmer House Hilton closed last week, along with the chain’s other locations across the country.
A recording at the Chicago location informs callers that all Spa Chakra’s operations ceased Aug. 20. The company also operated spas in Indianapolis, New York City, San Francisco and Marina del Rey, Calif. Get the full story »
Troubled lender Amcore Financial Inc AMFI.PK filed for bankruptcy protection on Thursday to liquidate its assets, it said in a filing.
Amcore Financial, which has been in talks with its largest stakeholders, intends to file a plan of liquidation by August 24 and continues to operate its business as a debtor-in-possession, it said in a filing with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission. Get the full story »
The settlement at the heart of Tribune Co.’s proposed reorganization plan has fallen apart, casting doubt on whether the Chicago-based media conglomerate can continue to control its own fate in bankruptcy court.
At a status hearing in Delaware Friday, Tribune Co. lead attorney James Conlan of Sidley Austin said the company planned to file unilateral amendments to its plan by next Friday and threatened to cast the case into extended litigation if the warring parties can’t come to an agreement.
“The debtor has tried mightily to bring the parties together,” Conlan said. “That hasn’t happened.” Get the full story »
Unions representing former employees of the Sun-Times Media Group Inc. are seeking information from the company in a dispute over termination of health-insurance benefits.
The unions have filed a motion in Delaware bankruptcy court seeking access to documents and other information from the company, which they claim has stopped paying for insurance coverage without court approval. Get the full story »
General Growth Properties Inc. says asset manager Blackstone Group has agreed to invest about $500 million for shares in the shopping mall operator once it emerges from Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection.
General Growth disclosed the agreement in a regulatory filing on Wednesday detailing the company’s latest plan to exit bankruptcy. Get the full story »
U.S. bankruptcy filings have reached the highest level since 2005, government data show, as the economy slows and the unemployment rate hovers just below double digits.
Bankruptcy filings in Illinois rose 18 percent in the quarter ended in June. There were 21,691 bankruptcy filings between April and June, according to the Administrative Office of the U.S. Courts, up from 18,311 a year earlier.
Consumer bankruptcies rose 19 percent to 21,094, and business bankruptcies rose 4 percent to 597. Get the full story »
General Motors Co. will list its shares on the New York Stock Exchange and Toronto Stock Exchange after its initial public offering, a source familiar with the situation said on Wednesday. The IPO, intended to repay a portion of the automaker’s government bailout, has been dubbed “Project Dawn,” the source said. Get the full story »
The judge in Tribune Co.’s bankruptcy case suspended a Friday voting deadline on the company’s proposed reorganization plan, responding to a request for more time from Tribune Co. lawyers.
Citing “vigorous negotiations” toward a new settlement in the case, Tribune last Friday asked U.S. Bankruptcy Judge Kevin J. Carey for more time to work toward a more consensual agreement. Get the full story »
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 »
Chicago-based Tribune Co. said Monday it is establishing a Texas subsidiary that will consolidate the media conglomerate’s back-office operations such as financial responsibilities and systems administration. The company said it anticipates the move, anticipated in recent weeks as job openings were posted on various employment Web sites, “will save Tribune tens of millions annually.”
Blockbuster Inc. has won its second debt-payment deadline extension in as many months, but the struggling video rental chain reported a wider loss and warned it might have to liquidate, sending its shares plummeting more than 20 percent Friday. Get the full story »
