Tribune Company's new owners on a mission to monetize media firm

The new media barons at Tribune Company are two investment firms and a bank. After nearly four years in legal limbo, senior creditors Oaktree Capital Management, Angelo, Gordon & Co. and JPMorgan Chase will have controlling interest in the newly reorganized Tribune Co. when it emerges from Chapter 11 bankruptcy, perhaps as soon as this month.

Oaktree and Angelo Gordon entered the picture because they bought up the company's debt; JPMorgan was lead lender in the buyout. The final hurdle is Federal Communications Commission approval to transfer the Chicago-based company's broadcast licenses to the new ownership group. The three will then install a new board, name their CEO — a selection process that insiders say is well under way — and issue stock in the reorganized company. What happens next to Tribune Co.'s eight daily newspapers, 23 television stations and assorted other media holdings worth an estimated $4.5 billion will be decided by the new bosses. Oaktree will be the largest shareholder, with about 22 percent of the equity, and will appoint two of seven board members. Both Angelo Gordon and JPMorgan have roughly a 9 percent stake and will control one board seat each. All three will appoint two more board members, and a final seat will be reserved for the chief executive. While seismic changes may be in the offing for Tribune Co., it is business as usual for its new owners.