MGM LENDERS WON’T PRESS STUDIO FOR INTEREST PAYMENT

MGM’s lenders, who reportedly number more than 140, agreed on Wednesday to hold off their demand for interest payment on $3.7 billion in debt “in support of the company’s ongoing efforts to strengthen its financial position.” The new deadline is May 14. MGM management is expected to present a restructuring plan to the creditors today (Thursday), which, analysts have inferred, probably means that the company has decided not to accept offers of around $1.5 billion from Time Warner or from industrialist Len Blavatnik’s Access Industries. Several reports speculated that the new plan would call for a reorganization under bankruptcy under which the current owners, who include Sony, Comcast, Providence Equity, Texas Pacific Group, and DLJ Merchant Banking Partners, would exchange debt for equity.