"We need to move forward quickly with the April 27 auction," Tierney said, referring to a tentative date that the parties had agreed upon last week.
There was no immediate response from lawyers representing the newspapers' biggest creditors, including Citizens Bank, Angelo, Gordon & Co., CIT Group and others.
Tierney and other local investors borrowed more than half the $515 million used to buy the newspapers in mid-2006.
At a hearing last week in U.S. Bankruptcy Court, an attorney for the secured lenders, Fred S. Hodara, said it would be "cumbersome" for them to assemble the money needed for a cash-only bid.
But, Hodara said, even if his group didn't prevail in the appeals court, "it is our intention to follow through on our interest in this company and run it."
Yesterday's decision should put that statement to the test - whether the newspapers' major creditors will find a way to raise the money needed to win an all-cash bidding contest, or whether they will appeal the court ruling, probably by seeking an en banc hearing before all 13 active judges on the 3rd Circuit.
An appeal could delay the auction and further action in the case for months.
The parties had agreed tentatively last week that if they received a speedy ruling from the 3rd Circuit, they could conduct an auction April 27.
But the federal bankruptcy judge in charge of the case, Stephen Raslavich, had not signed off on the date as of yesterday.
The top attorney for the newspapers, Lawrence G. McMichael, said he expected to see bids from at least three investment entities, in addition to a group of local investors assembled by Tierney, who agreed last summer to put up at least $52 million in cash and letters of credit, in effect setting a minimum bid for the company.
Hodara and other attorneys representing senior lenders did not return calls after the three-judge panel issued its ruling yesterday.
