With the deadline for first round bidding on MGM having now passed, it’s looking increasingly like the studio will be forced into Chapter 11 and an uncertain timescale for Bond 23 to get underway.
While the studio received several bids, unnamed insiders say they will almost certainly require operating MGM without the current debt obligations according to an article in the New York Times. The studio currently pays $300 million each year in interest repayments on £3.7 billion loan, with a $1 billion repayment due next June.
MGM was picked up for $5 billion in 2004 and is currently owned by a consortium consisting of Sony, Comcast, Providence Equity Partners and TPG.
