Tribune Co.’s prolonged and tortuous undertaking to sell itself isn’t getting any easier, the Wall Street Journal reports.

The newspaper and television concern cleared a hurdle Thursday by completing a tender offer for half of its shares, but to do so it had to commit to borrowing terms that could make its life more difficult in the months ahead.

On Friday, the Chicago-based company said shareholders tendered 92% of shares outstanding. Tribune said the tender offer was made to repurchase up to 126 million shares for $34 a share.

On April 2, Tribune said it would take itself private in a two-stage $8.2 billion deal backed by real-estate magnate Sam Zell. The deal, financed almost entirely by debt, isn’t expected to close until late this year.

To fund the tender offer that is the first stage of the buyout, and to refinance some existing debt, Tribune last week sold more than $7 billion in loans to debt investors. Even in today’s easy- money atmosphere, the company’s bankers had a tough time pushing the deal through. The bankers ended up forgoing roughly a third of about $120 million in fees to get the deal done, according to two individuals familiar with the matter.

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