Chatham Asset Management’s $312 million takeover of McClatchy — owner of the Miami Herald, Kansas City Star and other newspapers — was nearly waylaid by tropical storm Isaias.

Federal bankruptcy Judge Michael Wiles approved the deal as expected at a remote hearing on Tuesday, but by flashlight after the power failed in his Westchester home.

Chatham, majority owner of the National Enquirer, US Weekly and other titles at American Media, won the right to take over McClatchy at a bankruptcy auction on July 10, beating out Heath Freeman’s Alden Global Capital, including with plans to inject $49 million in cash.

Chatham also pledged no layoffs or pay cuts and to honor all existing collective-bargaining agreements.

The Pension Benefit Guaranty Corp., which had been pushing for a $90 million payout and a minority stake as part of the reorganization, became just another unsecured creditors when the company put itself up for sale. A spokesman said PBGC, as an unsecured creditor, will get a share of a $1 million settlement and a share in an expected tax refund from the IRS. Under the bankruptcy plan approved Aug. 4, the unsecured creditors committee gets 77.5 percent of whatever refund is due the company.

Regarding benefits going forward, the maximum payout that a 65 year old will receive for plans ending this year is $69,750, a PBGC splkesman said. The McClatchy pension fund at the time of the bankruptcy had $1.3 billion in assets and $2.3 billion in liabilities, which means it was underfunded by $1 billion.

McClatchy CEO Craig Forman said he will step down when the deal is finalized, which is expected to happen next month.

“This is a major milestone towards McClatchy’s successful resolutions of its court-supervised reorganization process and towards the sustainability of independent local journalism in the 30 communities we serve,” he said.