Tribune creditors: Judge should review Cubs sale

Tribune Co. should bring any proposed sale of the Chicago Cubs baseball team before a bankruptcy judge for approval, the official committee of unsecured creditors said.

"It is our expectation that the company will seek court approval of any sale," committee attorney Howard Seife said today in an e-mail.

Tom Ricketts, chairman of Chicago-based Incapital LLC, entered exclusive talks with bankrupt Tribune to buy the Chicago Cubs, a person with knowledge of the process said yesterday on the condition of anonymity because he's not authorized to publicly discuss the transaction. Ricketts's bid was chosen from among three finalists.

Tribune, the Chicago-based owner of the Los Angeles Times and the Chicago Tribune, filed for bankruptcy on Dec. 8, less than a year after real-estate billionaire Sam Zell took it private as an employee-owned company in an $8.3 billion deal that saddled it with debt. The company didn't include the Cubs in the filing.

Tribune may not be required to seek approval of the sale from U.S. Bankruptcy Judge Kevin J. Carey, who is overseeing the Chapter 11 case, attorney Derek Abbott said today in an interview.

Sale Structure

Because the Cubs aren't in bankruptcy, how Tribune structures the sale will determine whether court approval is required, said Abbott, who isn't involved in the case.

"If the Cubs are selling their assets in an asset sale and the Cubs are not a debtor, it generally would not require court approval," Abbott, a bankruptcy attorney with Morris, Nichols, Arsht & Tunnell in Wilmington, said.

Court blessing may be an advantage, since it would help protect Tribune and the buyer from getting entangled in any bankruptcy court issues later on, attorney John Penn said.

"Some refer to it as 'schmuck insurance,'" Penn, with the Dallas-based law firm of Haynes & Boone LLP, said.

The case is In re Tribune Co., 08-13141, U.S. Bankruptcy Court, District of Delaware (Wilmington)