ICAHN A LION TAMER?

Activist investor Carl Icahn may be turning out to be a more influential figure in the resurrection of MGM than earlier reports had indicated. According to today’s (Thursday) New York Post, besides securing for himself a seat on the MGM board (which had been widely reported), Icahn succeeded in obtaining an agreement from MGM’s debtholders […]

ICAHN SWEETENS HIS DEAL FOR MGM

Given widespread reports that MGM’s largest creditors prefer the deal offered by Spyglass Entertainment that would convert their debt into 95 percent ownership of a new company headed by Spyglass chiefs Gary Barber and Roger Birnbaum, maverick investor Carl Icahn is sweetening the deal he has offered them. On Tuesday, he raised his tender offer […]

MGM — GOING OUT LIKE A LAMB?

MGM would appear to be the latest media company to fall into bankruptcy after being sold to owners who paid too much for it in a leveraged buyout ($4.8 billion) and then discovered that they weren’t earning enough to pay interest on the debt. Published reports said today (Friday) that the studio is attempting to […]

LENDERS GIVE MGM ANOTHER REPRIEVE

Talk about “forbearance!” For the seventh time, MGM lenders on Wednesday agreed to allow MGM to put off interest and principal payments until Oct. 29 while Spyglass Entertainment and its backers finalize plans to take over the historic studio that has fallen on hard times. Those plans include converting debt into equity and Spyglass co-chairmen […]

SCHMUCKS‘ INCEPTION BEATS INCEPTION

Dinner for Schmucks edged out Inception at the box office on Friday. The comedy, produced by Universal, DreamWorks and Spyglass took in an estimated $8.4 million versus $8.2 million for the Warner Bros. dreamweaver. Sony/Columbia’s Salt was in third place with about $5.9 million, just ahead of the debut of Universal’s Charlie St. Cloud, which […]