Independent examiner sought for Tribune

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The US Trustee’s office is backing an effort by bondholders to have an independent examiner investigate the 2007 buyout of Tribune Co., now in bankruptcy. The bondholders content that the leveraged buyout was doomed from the start and amounted to a “fraudulent conveyance.”


The flagship Chicago Tribune, which has been following the developments intently, reported that the US Trustee filed its motion in advance of a hearing Thursday at the US Bankruptcy Court in Delaware. The US Trustee has offered no opinion on the merits of the fraudulent conveyance claim, but agreed that an independent examiner is needed.

A finding that the buyout was a fraudulent conveyance would raise the recovery standing of subordinated creditors who rank below the senior lenders who funded the leveraged buyout.