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A group led by former all-star pitcher Nolan Ryan and a minor league baseball team owner made a new bid to buy the bankrupt Texas Rangers in a move that would block an auction for the Major League Baseball team set for next week.
The Rangers’ bankruptcy court-appointed chief restructuring officer, William Snyder, said at a hearing on Friday that he supports the new offer, according to a person who attended the hearing by telephone. Get the full story »
Tribune Co. proposed paying its top 43 executives a severance package of cash and benefits if they are asked by a new board to leave the company after the Chicago-based media conglomerate emerges from bankruptcy.
The company didn’t put a price tag on the package, but said it amounts to 2.5 times salary and bonus for Chief Executive Randy Michaels, and 2.25 times salary and bonus for Chief Operating Officer Gerry Spector. Both would be entitled to 24 months of the company’s group health benefits.
Nine other top executives, including Tony Hunter, the publisher of the Chicago Tribune, and Eddy Hartenstein, publisher of the Los Angeles Times, would get 1.75 times salary and bonus plus 24 months of benefits. A list of 32 others would get 1.5 times salary and 18 months of benefits.
Tribune Co. filed the plan late Thursday as part of a supplement to its plan of reorganization.
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U.S. Bankruptcy Judge Kevin Carey signed an order providing certain key parties access to the full examiner’s report in the Tribune Co. bankruptcy case so they can evaluate its momentous conclusions before an Aug. 6 voting deadline.
He also indicated he might move the deadline out by a few days, but said he was determined not to disrupt the schedule for confirmation hearings on the Tribune Co. plan which are slated to begin Aug. 30.
Carey stopped short of ordering full public disclosure of the report. But he indicated he would prefer to make it public if parties in the case can resolve a series of confidentiality disputes raised by several big lenders to Tribune Co.’s ill-fated 2007 leveraged buyout, which was led by Chicago real estate magnate Sam Zell. Get the full story »
The court-appointed examiner in Tribune Co.’s Chapter 11 bankruptcy case determined that the company’s 2007 leveraged buyout was “marred” by the “dishonesty and lack of candor” of its then-senior management, and that the deal rendered the media conglomerate insolvent from the moment the two-step transaction closed.
A deep dish pizza at Pizzeria Uno in Chicago, Jan. 26, 2009. (Nancy Stone/Chicago Tribune)
Uno Restaurant Holdings Corp. said it emerged from Chapter 11 bankruptcy Monday, completing a six-month restructuring process.
The Boston-based pizzeria chain received approval from the federal bankruptcy court of the Southern District of New York for its reorganization plan on July 6. Uno Restaurant filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy in January, citing a downturn in consumer spending and higher costs.
“Today’s successful emergence from Chapter 11 completes the restructuring process in just six months, and allows us to turn our full attention to the growth and development of the Uno brands,” said Frank Guidara, CEO and president of the company. Get the full story »
Tribune Co. warned Monday that its nearly 20-month-old bankruptcy proceeding could be delayed again over a brewing dispute involving the release of a court-appointed examiner’s report in the case.
The report, which is being prepared by Los Angeles lawyer Kenneth Klee, is due before midnight Monday. But in a filing Friday, Klee said wrangling with various parties over the confidentiality of documents attached to his report would force him to submit a heavily redacted version, pending a judge’s ruling on the issue. Get the full story »
Under pressure from its creditors and unions, bankrupt Tribune Co. agreed to cut back on the bonuses it would pay under its proposed 2010 management incentive plan.
The move comes as Chicago-based Tribune Co. seeks to win approval from creditors for a reorganization plan that would allow it to exit a bankruptcy case that has dragged on for almost 20 months. Get the full story »
General Growth Properties Inc. was told to use a three-appraiser process to value a large community in Nevada, but a judge added he would not let it delay the No. 2 U.S. mall owner’s exit from bankruptcy. Get the full story »
From Crain’s Chicago Business | The firm headed by Lucien Lagrange has filed for bankruptcy protection to keep the renown condo architect from having to shoulder the company’s debt as he retires.
The judge in the Tribune Co.’s bankruptcy said Wednesday that there’s no way to avoid arguments about the media conglomerate’s 2007 leveraged buyout at a hearing on whether to confirm its reorganization plan.
But Judge Kevin Carey indicated that he will not hold a full-blown trial on buyout-related claims at the confirmation hearing, set to begin Aug. 30. Get the full story »
General Growth's Water Tower Place mall in Chicago. (Nancy Stone/Chicago Tribune)
The second largest U.S. mall owner said it has successfully restructured about $15 billion in project-level debt which will allow it to satisfy its debt and other claims in full and implement a recapitalization with $7 billion to $8 billion of new capital.
After emerging out of Chapter 11 protection, General Growth will split itself into two separate publicly traded companies and current shareholders will receive common stock in both companies. Get the full story »
General Growth Properties Inc., the second-largest U.S. mall owner, said it has won a $500 million equity investment from a large Texas pension fund and still expects to emerge from bankruptcy by October.
The Teacher Retirement System of Texas, which oversees $96.7 billion of assets, will pay $10.25 each for shares of a reorganized General Growth, according to a joint statement issued Monday. Get the full story »
Jones Lang LaSalle Inc. a real estate services company, said Monday it expanded its retail arm by acquiring third-party mall and shopping center leasing and management responsibilities from No. 2 U.S. mall owner General Growth Properties Inc.
Terms of the deal, which closed on Friday, were not disclosed. General Growth, which filed for bankruptcy protection in April 2009, will continue to manage and lease the nearly 200 malls it owns. Get the full story »
The Texas Rangers may be off the auction block, at least for now, after the baseball team withdrew its request to allow rival bidders to challenge a $575 million offer from a group of investors that include Hall of Fame pitcher Nolan Ryan.
The request was withdrawn after a chief restructuring officer appointed to represent the team’s owners said he no longer supports holding an auction. Get the full story »
General Growth Properties Inc. is seeking court approval to replace its $400 million bankruptcy loan with a new financing package, which the shopping-mall operator said will allow it to save several million dollars in interest payments each month.
In court papers filed Thursday, General Growth said it has struck a deal with Barclays Bank PLC to take out a $400 million bankruptcy loan to replace a similar loan from a group of lenders led by Farallon Capital Management LLC. Get the full story »
