Posted by chicagomedia.org on November 10, 2009 at 20:12:23:
By Michael Oneal Tribune staff reporter
2:15 p.m. CST, November 10, 2009
Tribune Co. said Tuesday that it plans to pay back $170 million of the $225 million in "debtor-in-possession" financing it took out to help pay for the Chapter 11 bankruptcy proceeding it entered last December.
The company will close out a $150 million term loan from Barclays Bank PLC that was financed by its receivables and carries an interest rate well above the market benchmark. It will also pay back the $20 million it has drawn down on a $75 million credit line, also collateralized by Tribune Co. receivables. That line will stay open and available if the company needs it.
Sources said Tribune Co., which owns the Chicago Tribune, the Los Angeles Times and other media properties, is trying to pare its interest expense on the above market-rate loans it was using for added liquidity during its bankruptcy case. The company will use existing cash to make the payments. As of the end of September, the most recent figures available, Tribune Co. had more than $758 million available, a figure that doesn't include proceeds from the sale of the Chicago Cubs.