MGM bids attracts Hollywood
Written by Chris Forrester
Tuesday, 12 January 2010 18:19
Plenty of top Hollywood players - and others - have expressed interest in bidding for MGM.
The Wall Street Journal states that although there are plenty of bids being made for MGM, they are low in value. First round bidding closes later this week.
The Journal names a slew of interested parties interested in the studio's assets: Time Warner Inc; Lions Gate Entertainment; News Corp; Summit Entertainment; Liberty Media; CBS Corp; AT&T and Indian conglomerate Reliance Industries, said the WSJ. Other names in the frame include former News Corp boss Peter Chernin and Yahoo founder Terry Semel are also said to have registered interest.
However, while the quantity of potential bidders is good, the value of their bids is low, with reportedly most bids in the $2m range while the studio's lenders were looking for nearer $3.7bn.
Indeed, the low bids - if confirmed - could mean the end of the auction and the studio choosing to go Chapter 11 and bankruptcy protection and thus dragging out the sale for some months if not years.
(c) Rapid TV News 2010