From another board re: lehman extension is up to 3 years, and will benefit shareholders (also CTs) but will probably go faster. However, Cotton may get our money sooner.
If I understand correctly, you are saying that the additional time requested by the trustee is designed to capture more NOLs and increase the value of the newco for the eventual merger. Therefore, for the NOLs play on the CTs (as opposed to those waiting for a payout), the delay would be a good sign and the NOLs will eventually amount to more than $55B.
It is hard to estimate if the NOLs are big enough for the CTs to be in the money. My guesstimation is that a NOL of $55B, discounted to 20%, with half going to creditors, still represents an excellent payday for the CTs and traditional preferreds.
However, if today in 2014, the NOL is much smaller, then perhaps not.