Court OKs Tribune filing

A Delaware bankruptcy court approved interim bankruptcy financing so the company can pay its employees and vendors. Tribune will get a $50 million letter of credit from lenders led by Barclays Bank Plc, and the bank will increase the size of an existing loan to $300 million from $225 million. From Reuters:

The company's lawyer said during the hearing that he believes the company will be able to reorganize because of a favorable debt structure. Tribune's debt at its operating companies is all unsecured, he said, which means the debt is all equal in terms of which will be repaid first. That eliminates one of the difficulties of restructuring negotiations, when committees representing different tiers of creditors fight each other to be repaid first. "That is what makes this group of companies so remarkable and gives us the benefit of restructuring these companies in the most intelligent way possible," James Conlan, a Tribune attorney with the law firm of Sidley Austin LLP, told Judge Kevin Carey in Delaware bankruptcy court.