A bankruptcy judge on Monday gave final approval to a plan by Lee Enterprises to re-finance its debt and allow the newspaper publisher to exit Chapter 11 bankruptcy.
Lee is the publisher of the Southern Illinoisan and more than 40 other newspapers. It filed for bankruptcy protection on December 12th to compel some of its lenders to agree to a re-financing plan that gives the company more time to re-pay about $1 billion in debt.
The plan was approved last week, and it extends Lee's repayment dates out to 2015 and 2017.