Zell remains committed to Tribune buyout-source

(Adds details, background, byline)

By Robert MacMillan and Megan Davies

NEW YORK, Aug 14 (Reuters) - Chicago real estate tycoon Sam Zell remains committed to taking Tribune Co. TRB.N private, a source close to the transaction said on Tuesday, countering investor concerns over the deal that have weighed on the U.S. newspaper publisher's shares.

Zell's perspective on Tribune "as an investment and as a company has not changed," said the source, who requested anonymity because the source was not authorized to speak for Zell.

Tribune shares fell to $24.46, their lowest level in nearly nine years, on Tuesday before the remarks about Zell. That was well below the $34 a share that investors will receive when the company goes private in deal with a total value of $8.2 billion. The shares regained ground to trade 1 percent lower at $25.49 on the New York Stock Exchange.

Investors have pushed down the stock ahead of a shareholder vote on the deal scheduled for next Tuesday, fearing that the company's worsening performance and a crunch in the wider credit market could endanger the buyout.

Zell did not return telephone calls seeking comment. A Tribune spokeswoman said the deal remains on track.

"The financing for it is fully committed," said Ruthellyn Musil, senior vice president of the corporate relations for the company. "We anticipate closing the transaction in the fourth quarter following (Federal Communications Commission) approval, and expect to be in full compliance with our credit agreement."

A separate source familiar with the situation said there were no known talks between Zell and Tribune about renegotiating the $34-a-share deal price.

That source said Tribune's recent share price decline was not based on any news apart from a weak market environment for newspaper stocks.

TERMS OF THE DEAL

There is still the possibility that financing terms will be renegotiated nearer to the time the deal closes, a practice becoming common for several leveraged buyout deals amid the current credit squeeze, the source said.

But it is unclear what the state of the financing markets will be at the time the Tribune deal closes.

Financing deal terms have been renegotiated on a number of leveraged buyout deals such as Dollar General Corp. (DG.N), as lenders tighten access to cash.

The subprime mortgage meltdown and concern from debt investors over highly leveraged deals have effectively shut down the credit markets.