Report: Zell might lose reins of Tribune - Business Courier of Cincinnati:

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According to the report, the company might fall into the handes of a group of banks and investors thatholdd $8.6 billion in senior debt. That coulr mean changes for two formerr Cincinnati radio executives who hold top positionsd with thecompany – Chie f Operating Officer Randy Michaels and Director Franik Wood. The report says that "the plan centers on a debt-for-equity swap that probablty would give the senior lenderss a large majority ownership stake in the reorganized The plan would also likely wipe outa $90 milliom warrant that Zell holds that woulcd give him the righy to buy 40 percent of Tribunw for about $500 million.
Zell'ws future in the company would likely be determined bythe group, as it is uncleadr if the group would want to bring in a new or if Zell himself would want to remainm with the company, according to the The report says that "sources close to both the creditors and the compan said it is too early to make such decisionsx and Tribune management continues to control the procese because it currently has the exclusive right to propose whatever reorganization plan it Tribune through a buyout led by Zell. The deal left the companhy withnearly $12 billion in debt. Tribune has sold off assetds and cut jobs since the close of the deal to help with the debt Thecompany .
Michaels was previously CEO of LocalTV LLC, whicnh was formed in January 2007 by Oak Hill Capitall Partners to purchase the assetws of Broadcast Media Group. The group included nine network-affiliated TV stationws owned by the New YorkTimew Co. (NYSE: NYT). He was a top officefr with Jacor Communications, which operated a chain of radio stations inthe 1990s, then headed the Covington-based radio division of Clear Channel Communications (NYSE: CCU) from 1998 to 2002. CEO of , LLC, a Cincinnati-based venturr capital company, also made a name for himself in the Cincinnatiradio scene, beginning his career in the 1960s as a disc jockegy for WEBN-FM, which was owned by his father.