Publisher considers bankruptcy protection

New York: Tribune Company, the newspaper publisher and broadcaster taken private by billionaire Sam Zell last year, is considering filing for bankruptcy protection, according to the Wall Street Journal.

Lazard Ltd and law firm Sidley Austin were hired to advise Tribune on a possible Chapter 11 filing as soon as this week, the Journal reported Sunday, citing unidentified people familiar with the matter. Gary Weitman, the Tribune's spokesman, said the company doesn't comment on rumours.

Tribune continued talks with lenders to restructure its debt in recent days, the Journal said. The Chicago-based company, saddled with $11.8 billion (Dh55.83 billion) in debt from the $8.3 billion buyout of the company last December, has been cutting jobs and selling assets including Long Island's Newsday to reduce its obligations.

Last month, Tribune reported a third-quarter net loss of $121.6 million as advertising sales continued to slide. Fitch Ratings credit analyst Mike Simonton said at the time that the results were "slightly worse" than expected and that Tribune would have to sell its Chicago Cubs baseball team by year-end to avoid violating loan agreements.

Tribune's $5.515 billion term loan is quoted as low as 31 cents on the dollar, according to Standard and Poor's LCD. The so-called term loan X, which is paid off first by asset sales, is quoted as low as 45 cents. The X loan was $1.5 billion at the time of the buyout and is now $512 million.