As per a reorganization plan being negotiated in US Bankruptcy Court, a creditors' group of large banks and investors - including JPMorgan Chase and Citigroup, and institutional investors and funds like Oaktree Capital Management and Angelo, Gordon & Co - might possibly take over the control of the Chicago-based media conglomerate Tribune Co. from the billionaire Sam Zell.

The Chicago Tribune reports say that the control transfer plan, which is essentially involves a debt-for-equity swap, was expected to give the lenders - holding $8.6 billion in senior debt - a substantial majority ownership stake in the restructured company.

The transfer of control of Tribune Co will result in the obliteration of the $90 million warrant that Zell negotiated as part of his $8.2 billion deal to take the company private in
2007. The warrant, which gave Zell the right to a $500 million acquisition of nearly 40 percent of the company, had marked the foundation of Zell's control over the company.

With Zell and his team expressing their desire to work toward a consensual plan with the company's creditors, the Tribune Co - which owns the Chicago Tribune and Los Angeles Times - said that the Zell team "remains actively engaged and committed to this company. The restructuring is still in progress, and it is premature to speculate about the final ownership structure."