Tribune Co. bankruptcy examiner seeks more time
The independent examiner charged with investigating claims of “fraudulent conveyance” in the Tribune Co. bankruptcy case asked Wednesday for a 15-day extension for filing his report.
That would probably delay a set of confirmation hearings on the media company’s reorganization plan scheduled for Aug. 16 in U.S. Bankruptcy Court in Delaware.
“The examiner’s request … is not unexpected,” Tribune Co. said in a statement. “Although it may delay our confirmation hearing for a short period of time, we are supportive of the request in the interest of enabling the examiner to do a thorough and complete review.”
The examiner, Kenneth Klee, was appointed April 30 and asked to evaluate allegations by junior bondholders in the case that the company’s 2007 leveraged buyout was a case of fraudulent conveyance, meaning it left the Chicago-based company insolvent from Day One.
Those claims and millions of pages of documents obtained through the discovery process have been central to the case because, if proven, they raised the specter that U.S. Bankruptcy Judge Kevin Carey could disallow more than $10 billion in claims held by senior creditors and open the architects of the deal — including Tribune Chairman Sam Zell — to accusations of breach of fiduciary duty.
In a court motion Wednesday, Klee blamed his request for more time on “the enormity of the documentary record that had to be reviewed.” Based on what he has found so far, he added, his team will need to do more witness interviews than previously expected. The original deadline for the report was July 12 but Klee asked for an extension to July 27.
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