Judge approves Freedom reorganization plan

WILMINGTON, Del. — A federal bankruptcy judge in Delaware has approved the Chapter 11 reorganization plan of Freedom Communications, owner of Tri-County Newspapers and other media properties.

Under the plan approved today, Freedom's secured lenders including JPMorgan Chase and Bank of New York Mellon would assume ownership of the company in return for cutting the debt owed to them by nearly 60 percent, to $325 million.

Unsecured creditors who challenged an initial proposal giving them only about $5 million stand to recover far more than that under the revised plan.

Pension holders would get about 70 percent of their original pensions.

Chief Executive Officer Burl Osborne hailed the judge's approval.

"Navigating through Chapter 11 as rapidly as we have is a remarkable achievement, testifying to the hard work of all involved," said Osborne. "We have worked closely with our major constituents to implement a plan that treats our stakeholders fairly while deleveraging the company and positioning it for future success and meeting the challenges of the new media environment."

In addition to the Tri-County Newspapers portfolio — the Colusa County Sun-Herald, the Corning Observer, the Orland Press-Register and the Willows Journal — Freedom also publishes the Appeal-Democrat and approximately 85 other daily, weekly and biweekly publications.

In a separate but related action today, the court also approved the company's sale of its Phoenix-area operations, including the East Valley Tribune, to 1013 Communications, LLC, an affiliate of Thirteenth Street Media. The sale is expected to close by the end of March, subject to satisfaction of the closing conditions.