Tribune Adviser Denies Bankruptcy Settlement Tainted by Sam Zell Influence

A Tribune Co. bankruptcy adviser denied that a plan to settle claims related to the newspaper publisher’s 2007 buyout was tainted by the influence of an ally of Chairman Sam Zell.

The adviser, David S. Kurtz, a managing director of Lazard Freres & Co., testified today that he questioned Donald J. Liebentritt, Tribune’s chief restructuring officer, about his long relationship with Zell. “Don told me, notwithstanding his relationship with Zell, that now he was general counsel of Tribune,” Kurtz, who was hired after Tribune filed to reorganize in 2008, said in U.S. Bankruptcy Court in Wilmington, Delaware. “He said his duty was to maximize value for all creditors of the estate.” Tribune is seeking court approval of its plan to exit bankruptcy by settling some of the billions of dollars in current and proposed lawsuits related to the leveraged buyout. Aurelius Capital Management LP, a hedge fund sponsoring a competing proposal, claims the Tribune plan was written by parties with conflicts of interest.