Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Leaves Bankruptcy, Raises $500 Million for Films, TV
Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Inc., distributor of the James Bond and Rocky movies, emerged from a streamlined bankruptcy and raised $500 million to produce new films and television series.
The studios’ lenders converted about $5 billion in debt for equity, the company said today in an e-mailed statement. The new equity holders in the studio include billionaire Carl Icahn, who will designate one of the company’s nine directors.
Gary Barber and Roger Birnbaum, executives at Spyglass Entertainment Group Inc., will serve as MGM’s co-chairmen and chief executive officers. The restructuring clears the way for the studio to begin work on a slate that includes a new Bond film and two movies based on J.R.R. Tolkien’s “The Hobbit” to be co-produced with Time Warner Inc.’s New Line Cinema.
At Spyglass, Birnbaum and Barber produced films including the supernatural thriller “The Sixth Sense.” MGM got approval Dec. 2 to reorganize under Spyglass Entertainment.
Financing was arranged by JPMorgan Chase & Co., the studio said in the statement.
To contact the reporters on this story: Michael White in Los Angeles at mwhite8@bloomberg.net.
To contact the editor responsible for this story: Anthony Palazzo at apalazzo@bloomberg.net.
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