Tribune Co was granted until the end of March to file a plan of reorganization and avoided the immediate threat of starting a “litigation nightmare” over its 2007 leveraged buyout.

The owner of the Los Angeles Times, KTLA-TV Channel 5 and the Chicago Tribune said at a Thursday hearing that it would reduce the requested extension of exclusivity to March 31 from its original request to extend it into June.

Judge Kevin Carey approved the request to extend exclusivity, saying it may be Tribune’s “last best chance” to resolve seemingly entrenched disputes. The company now has until the end of next month to resolve the main issue of its bankruptcy, the role of its 2007 $8.2 billion leveraged buyout that was led by Sam Zell, a real estate developer.

The official committee of unsecured creditors have blamed banks that financed the deal for the company’s bankruptcy, saying they knew the buyout debt would leave it insolvent.

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