It looks like Peak Broadcasting won’t provide any competition to Tribune Company when it comes to the time spent in Chapter 11 reorganization. A hearing is set for next Friday (2/3) to approve the plan to have a trustee hold the Peak radio station licenses, which can then be filed with the FCC for approval
Assuming there are no objections, the bankruptcy court would approve creation of an FCC Trust, with Claudia Siegle Horn as trustee.
The trusteeship is designed to simplify the reorganization of Peak and implement the pre-packaged Chapter 11 plan it filed in early January. Once the FCC gives approval, the trustee will take control of the license assets as an interim step (via the short form FCC For5m 316) leading to the eventual transfer of Peak’s licenses and other assets to its senior creditors.
As previously reported, once the Chapter 11 proceeding is completed the principal owners of the new Peak Broadcasting will be Oaktree Capital and Rabobank.
RBR-TVBR observation: Bankruptcy proceedings are never cheap or pleasant, but a pre-packed deal like the one Peak cut with its creditors is certainly faster and less costly than a contentious bankruptcy, like the one for Tribune Corporation which marked its third anniversary last month.
