Tribune collapse unlikely to be last

Debt-laden companies bought with cheap money during the private equity boom are under increasing stress as the US economy worsens, and more are expected to follow media company Tribune into bankruptcy.

The collapse of the publisher of the Chicago Tribune and Los Angeles Times is the biggest yet among companies taken private in the leveraged buyout boom that ground to a halt in mid-2007, but it's unlikely to be the last.

While not a private equity deal, the buyout of Tribune by employees and real estate mogul Sam Zell was one of those that epitomized the credit boom. The company took on about $8 billion of additional debt when it went private.