MGM to remain independent no longer?

[FormerBondFan]

blogs.reuters.com/mediafile/2009/08/19/mgm-to-remain-independent-no-longer/

11:13 August 19th, 2009
MGM to remain independent no longer?

What’s going to happen to MGM?

On Tuesday, the Hollywood studio announced it was replacing its chief executive Harry Sloan with a team that includes a turnaround expert. It’s a well-known fact that MGM, which is owned by private equity firms and Comcast, has struggled with a massive debt load. It has payments due on $3.7 billion of debt and the future isn’t looking too good, given the down market and shrinking DVD demand.

Media and entertainment industry analysts believe MGM won’t last much longer as an independent studio, according to a story in the Los Angeles Times:

Most industry watchers believe that MGM will not survive much longer as an independent studio and is likely to be sold to a bigger media company such as Time Warner Inc. or merged with another movie and TV studio like Lions Gate Entertainment Corp. Qualia Capital, a private investment firm headed by Amir Malin and Ken Schapiro, is actively looking at MGM, said a person with knowledge of the situation.

Who else could be a buyer? There were rumors earlier that investor Carl Icahn, who is a major shareholder in Lions Gate, was buying up MGM’s debt in the open market with the intention of forcing a merger between the two studios.

Then, there’s Comcast, which already owns a stake in MGM and could potentially be interested in owning MGM’s rich content librabry, which includes the James Bond films. Reuters’ Yinka Adegoke recently wrote that investors worry that Comcast will make a splashy acquisition soon. Could this be it?

[FormerBondFan]

www.telegraph.co.uk/finance/newsbysector/mediatechnologyandtelecoms/6050893/MGM-brings-in-trio-to-replace-chief-executive.html

MGM brings in trio to replace chief executive

The owners of Metro-Golden-Mayer have ousted its incumbent chief executive and replaced him with three people in an attempt to turn the ailing Hollywood film studio around.

By James Quinn, US Business Correspondent
Published: 9:43PM BST 18 Aug 2009

The trade and private equity consortium which took the studio behind the James Bond and Robocop series of films private in 2005, has decided to dispense of the executive services of industry veteran Harry Sloan. He will however continue as chairman.

In his place, the group is bringing in three members to "the office of the chief executive." The three are turnaround expert Stephen Cooper; MGM production head Mart Parent; and Bedi Singh, MGM's chief financial officer.

The unusual move is an attempt to revitalise the studio's finances.

Top of their list will be to tackle the group's $3.7bn of debt, the bulk of which was accumulated as result of the group's 2005 leveraged buy-out.

The consortium, which includes Sony, Comcast, Providence Equity Partners and TPG, took the decision to shake up the management ahead of a $250m revolving credit payment due next April, with the $3.7bn of term debt due in June 2012.

In May, Mr Sloan appointed boutique investment bank Moelis & Co. to begin to initiate the refinancing process, setting up a steering committee of MGM's 140 creditors.

The new management team will effectively be led by Mr Cooper, who was also named vice-chairman.

He has been tasked with improving the health of the company's balance sheet.

Mr Cooper is a well-known restructuring expert, having overseen the turn-around of Krispy Kreme, the doughnut empire, and working as interim chief executive during Enron's bankruptcy.

[alvin]

Regardless of what happens to MGM, I'm confident the next BOnd film won't be delayed. I believe Daniel Craig won't let anything stop it from getting filmed. You know, just reading these articles made me imagine that MGM would probably be a better company if Daniel was involved in the management. For example, he'd make a great CEO, then he would have total creative control.

[FormerBondFan]

alvin......I think you're all over your head.

[Gambit]

Aug 20, 2009 15:18:41 GMT -5 alvin said:

Regardless of what happens to MGM, I'm confident the next BOnd film won't be delayed. I believe Daniel Craig won't let anything stop it from getting filmed. You know, just reading these articles made me imagine that MGM would probably be a better company if Daniel was involved in the management. For example, he'd make a great CEO, then he would have total creative control.

He might not have enough time to do that though. He's already slated to sing the theme song for Bond 23 and play several different roles in the film Peter Sellars style. He's an extraordinary man and we should all be humble and give thanks that we were born in the same era as this craggy superstar of stage and screen.

[FormerBondFan]

I hope Bond 23 still release in 2011 rather than 2012.

[atticus]

Aug 20, 2009 15:18:41 GMT -5 alvin said:

Regardless of what happens to MGM, I'm confident the next BOnd film won't be delayed. I believe Daniel Craig won't let anything stop it from getting filmed. You know, just reading these articles made me imagine that MGM would probably be a better company if Daniel was involved in the management. For example, he'd make a great CEO, then he would have total creative control.

Forget Craig The CEO, pal. He was one of the main people behind that idiocy known as Flashbacks of a Fool and you and Craig's parents are the only human beings who've ever seen that film. Good Lord, the kind of critical thinking we're getting from some of these young people today just boggles my mind.

[FormerBondFan]

atticus....you should post here more often.