Lawyers for companies controlled by Lachlan Murdoch and Bruce Gordon say documents ‘inadequate’ and misleading.

Channel Ten’s administrators failed to properly explain the risks that surrounded the offer by US network CBS but risks associated with the rejected rival bid were highlighted, in breach of administrators’ duties, a court has been told.

Interests associated with Lachlan Murdoch and Bruce Gordon are fighting to delay the meeting next week at which creditors, including Ten staff and program suppliers, will be asked to accept the offer for Australia’s third-rated commercial television network from CBS.

The CBS offer was accepted by the administrators, KordaMentha, over the offer by Birketu/Illyria, companies controlled by Murdoch and Gordon.

The first document to creditors issued by KordaMentha was “inadequate” and did not outline the risk, Dr Andrew Bell SC , counsel for Birketu/Illyria, told the court.

The second supplemental report issued after the legal action began made the problem worse by providing misleading information of the risk, he added.

In what has become a high stakes game of strategy, all sides are jostling for advantage in the New South Wales supreme court, while keeping an eye on developments in Canberra, where there appears to have been an overnight breakthrough with the crossbenchers that may result in contentious new media laws being passed within days.

The Nick Xenophon Team has indicated it will support the new laws, which remove the two out of three rule and allow media companies to own print, radio and television in the same market, provided there is a fund to encourage diversity that is available to small media companies.

The fund, reported to be between $20m and $30m, would be available to small media companies such as independent regional publications and potentially Crikey and the Saturday Paper. The fund would not be available to Australian subsidiaries of foreign media companies such as Guardian Australia.

The Murdoch/Gordon bid for Channel Ten is dependent on the media laws changing, as both men have interests in other media companies, including News Corporation and Win Group, which owns some Nine affiliates.

A change in the law would mean any contingencies are removed from their bid. In contrast the CBS bid still must clear the Foreign Investment Review Board.

At the start of proceedings, the interests associated with Murdoch and Gordon sought to amend their urgent case against the receivers of Channel Ten but backed off after Justice Ashley Black indicated that the price of adding a new line of attack to their pleadings was likely to be an adjournment.

That would have potentially allowed the second meeting of creditors to go ahead on 19 September, giving the favoured bidder, CBS, the chance to have its bid approved.

Bell said there was no evidence from the administrators as to the urgency of having the meeting next week. Nor had there been an explanation as to why more information about the rival bid wasn’t provided to creditors, he said.

As part of its case, Birketu/Illyria is seeking to prevent CBS, the largest creditor of Ten, from having more than one vote at the creditors’ meeting. Votes are usually allocated in proportion to the debt owed.

As a foreign company CBS must obtain Foreign Investment Review Board approval but it does not face the same impediments under the diversity laws.

The hearing continues.