Lenders, Not Zell, May Run Tribune Co.

Stuyvesant Town project collapses under debt

(NEWSER) - The record-setting sale of a New York residential property for $5.4 billion in 2006 was a deal made at the height of the boom—and it's now a casualty of the collapsed real estate market. Tishman Speyer, the property company that bought the 56-building, 11,000-unit Peter Cooper Village and Stuyvesant Town apartment complexes in Manhattan four years ago, is handing the debt-laden property over to creditors, the Wall Street Journal reports. More»

(NEWSER) - American banks will pull in $38.5 billion in overdraft fees this year, a record sum that's largely coming from pockets of the poorest and most indebted consumers. According to the Financial Times, banks hiked fees on overdrafts and credit cards as the financial crisis took hold; this year's take will be double that reported in 2000. Some 90% of overdraft revenues come from just 10% of checking account holders, many of whom have low credit scores. More»

Alternate headline: Banks, Treasury Play Chicken on Chrysler Deal

(NEWSER) - A group of big banks balked at the Treasury’s proposal that they slash 85% of Chrysler’s debt, the government’s second such request. Instead, in what the Wall Street Journal calls a “significant act of brinkmanship” as an April 30 deadline looms, the banks, including bailout recipients Citigroup, JPMorgan, Goldman Sachs, and Morgan Stanley, offered to cut just 35%—to $4.5 billion rather than $1 billion—and asked for a 40% equity stake in return. More»

Obama administration will not rule out Chapter 11 for ailing autos

(NEWSER) - Treasury advisers are working to line up $40 billion in financing for General Motors and Chrysler—5 times the size of any previous bankruptcy loan—just in case the two automakers need it, the Wall Street Journal reports. While efforts continue to restructure the companies by other means, the administration is speaking to as many as 70 lenders—including Citigroup and JPMorgan, themselves recipients of bailout cash—to provide government-backstopped financing for operations during a Chapter 11 restructuring. More»

If company files for bankruptcy, they could ask judge to remove him

(NEWSER) - Sirius XM Radio's creditors want the company to make a deal with an investor rather than file for bankruptcy, and they're prepared to go after CEO Mel Karmazin's job if things don't go their way, the Wall Street Journal reports. "The board of directors should carefully consider the ramifications" of bankruptcy, a lawyer for the creditor group said. The company's decision is expected today. More»