電影巨頭米高梅公司宣佈破產
Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer, Hollywood's fabled and once most powerful studio, has filed for bankruptcy protection after it could no longer pay down its crippling debt or make and release new movies.
The filing, made Wednesday morning, comes after MGM's leading creditors struck a deal with corporate raider Carl Icahn, who had amassed about 15% of the company's debt and was previously pushing for a merger between MGM and Lions Gate.
Instead, Icahn agreed to support a plan under which the chief executives of film production and finance company Spyglass Entertainment will run MGM once it exits Chapter 11, which could occur in as soon as one month.
Under the pre-packaged bankruptcy plan, MGM's $4 billion worth of debt, upon which it could no longer afford to pay interest, will be converted into more than 99% of the equity in the studio, which is valued at $1.9 billion. Spyglass principals Gary Barber and Roger Birnbaum will become co-chief executives and co-chairmen, running a slimmed-down MGM with significantly less overhead and start producing new movies, including a James Bond sequel and two films based on "The Hobbit" that will be co-financed with Warner Bros.
相關中文報道：摘自鳳凰網
有着86年曆史的好萊塢老牌電影公司米高梅，由於無力償還鉅額債務，3號宣佈破產。
總部設在洛杉磯的米高梅電影公司在拒絕了獅門影業公司和億萬富翁卡爾伊欽的收購計劃後，向紐約曼哈頓聯邦法院申請破產保護。根據重組計劃，米高梅將在1-2個月內脫離破產保護。好萊塢望遠鏡娛樂公司將把旗下兩家子公司與米高梅公司合併，組成新的米高梅電影公司。在持有米高梅近40億美元債務的債權人中，已經有八成投票支持米高梅的預組破產計劃。米高梅公司表示，在破產重組過程中，公司將維持正常運作。
米高梅的債務危機已經持續了一段時間。之前，億萬富翁卡爾·伊坎曾購買了米高梅15%的債務，並致力推動米高梅與自己控股的獅門影業公司合併。
米高梅電影公司是好萊塢5大電影公司之一，曾推出包括亂世佳人，007系列，史泰龍系列在內的大批經典影片，並先後200次在奧斯卡金像獎上獲獎，但近年來，由於一直沒有賣座影片上映，公司債務纏身。
