Movies
MGM 'to be auctioned off within weeks'
Published Thursday, Nov 12 2009, 10:05 GMT | By Simon Reynolds
According to Variety, the Hollywood studio will be sold to clear its $3.7 billion debt. The MGM library, which contains more than 4,000 movies, is expected to quickly find a buyer, while its United Artists studio headed up by Tom Cruise could go to a separate corporation. MGM's iconic lion logo is also expected to find a new home.
Last summer, MGM's CEO Harry Sloan was ousted and replaced by Stephen Cooper, who previously helped restructure ailing companies Enron and Krispy Kreme. However, experts claim that MGM may only net $1.5 billion at sale as many of its titles are considered dated.
The company fought off bankruptcy last month after entering into a forbearance agreement with its lender group to forego interest payments on its spiralling debt.
MGM has only released Fame this year, but plans to put out comedies Hot Tub Time Machine and The Zookeeper, as well as a Red Dawn remake, in 2010.
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