Report says creditors pushing to control Tribune

Looking to recoup as much as possible from $8.6 billion Tribune Co. owes them, creditors are working on a new reorganization plan that would let them take over the company and resell its assets, a published report says today.

The Chicago Sun-Times report cites two sources familiar with the process who say investment banks are growing impatient with the pace of the Tribune's bankruptcy, and are working on a reorganization plan of their own that doesn't rely on Sam Zell. They cannot file the plan until at least Nov. 30, however, after the bankruptcy court on Monday gave Zell and Tribune Co. until that date to file its plan.

Under the credittors' plan, they would take over control of the company's properties -- including the Chicago Tribune, the Los Angeles Times, WGN television and radio and 22 other television stations around the country -- and sell them at will, the report says.

Zell purchased Tribune Co. and took it private in 2007, leveraging the move with a massive borrowing spree. Since then, the company has sold the Long Island, N.Y., daily Newsday for $650 million and has been trying to sell the Chicago Cubs and Wrigley Field. It filed for bankruptcy protection last December.

The latest report follows a similar rumor in June that investors were attempting to wrest control of the publishing giant from Zell.