U.S. Bankruptcy Judge Christopher Sontchi of the U.S. Bankruptcy Court for the District of Delaware has approved the order that sets up the bidding procedures for SP Newsprint Holdings’ upcoming auction, a Deal Pipeline article said.

A GE Capital affiliate, SPN AcquisitionCo LLC, is the stalking-horse bidder for the company’s assets with a bid of $145 million. The bid is a “credit bid” where the affiliate would use the amount of loans SP Newsprint currently has with GE Capital to purchase the company’s assets. The stalking-horse bid would also require SPN AcquisitionCo to take over the company’s debtor-in-possession (DIP) agreement with GE Capital.

SP Newsprint previously entered into a credit facility with GE Capital, which as of November 2011, consisted of a $41 million revolving credit facility and a $213 million term loan, the article said.

If there is more than one bid on the table by August 13, the auction is slated for August 17, the article noted.

Separately, Judge Sontchi also approved to increase SP Newsprint