The administrators of the Ten Network say media mogul Bruce Gordon is putting jobs in jeopardy by challenging US media giant CBS's takeover of the troubled broadcaster.
Mr Gordon's Birketu and Lachlan Murdoch's Illyria Nominees Television had secured regulatory approval to make a joint bid for the free-to-air network.
But Ten administrator KordaMentha instead recommended a rival offer from CBS, prompting Ten's regional affiliate WIN - which is majority-owned by Mr Gordon - to make an urgent application to the NSW Supreme Court last week.
A second creditors meeting scheduled for September 12 was subsequently deferred until September 19 so that the matter can be heard in court on Tuesday and Wednesday this week.
"It is disappointing that Birketu - either directly or via related parties - have pursued court action, delaying the creditors' vote and putting at risk the certainty provided to 750 employees and creditors under the CBS transaction," KordaMentha senior partner Mark Korda said in a statement on Monday.
Mr Korda reiterated that the CBS deal represented the best outcome for creditors and for Ten.
Mr Korda said that, in comparing the Birketu and the CBS bids, the administrators had given primary consideration to the financial return to creditors, the complexity and risks, the time frame for completion, and the timing of payments to creditors.
"Our decision to recommend the CBS transaction followed a thorough review and comparison of the two final bids received," Mr Korda said.
"Both the administrators and the receivers, having regard to their respective obligations, concluded that the CBS proposal was superior to the Birketu and Illyria proposal for creditors generally."
