Judge OK's Lee Enterprises bankruptcy financing

[December 14, 2011]  WILMINGTON, Del. (AP) -- Newspaper company Lee Enterprises Inc. has won approval to borrow up to $40 million as it works through its prepackaged bankruptcy case.

Lee, publisher of the St. Louis Post-Dispatch and more than 40 other daily newspapers, filed for bankruptcy protection Monday with the support of lenders and note holders holding more than 95 percent of its debt. The case in U.S. Bankruptcy Court in Wilmington is designed to force the remaining lenders to go along.

Lee has said it is requesting a $40 million credit line to ensure that it has enough funds to last through its restructuring, though it doesn't expect to need it right away. The judge overseeing the case approved that Tuesday.

Most of Lee's debt stems from of its acquisition of Pulitzer Inc. in 2005.

[Associated Press; By RANDALL CHASE]

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