ProvEquity’s MGM gets new management team

LOS ANGELES – Hollywood studio Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Inc., a company that Providence-based Providence Equity Partners Inc. helped acquire in 2004, will soon be under new management, according to news reports.
Reuters reported recently that the founder of production company Spyglass Entertainment has signed a letter of intent to take over troubled MGM.
The studio reportedly is $4 billion in debt.
The Los Angeles Times said MGM’s debt holders and board of directors must approve the deal. MGM would need to file a prepackaged bankruptcy before the Spyglass pair can assume control.
The studio, which owns about 4,000 movie titles, including the James Bond franchise, had been up for sale with a possible price tag of between $1.5 billion and $3 billion.
MGM was acquired for about $5 billion in 2004 by a consortium that included Providence Equity and another buyout firm, TPG Capital, as well as media companies Sony Corp., Comcast Corp. Each controls 20 percent of MGM, while buyout firm DLJ Merchant Partners holds a 7 percent stake and Quadrangle Group holds 3 percent.
Providence Equity Partners Inc. is a global private investment firm – based in Providence, with offices in Los Angeles, New York City, London, Hong Kong and New Delhi. The firm has invested in more than 100 companies, operating in nearly two dozen nations, since its founding in 1989. Additional information is available at www.provequity.com.