MUMBAI: In the next two weeks, more than 100 lenders of MGM will vote on whether to approve naming Gary Barber and Roger Birnbaum of Spyglass as the studio‘s new keepers.
A detailed proposal by the Spyglass duo for taking over the studio and reshaping its operations was presented on Thursday to creditors. Finallly, the plan will be filed as a ‘prepackaged‘ Chapter 11 bankruptcy reorganisation and turn nearly $4 billion in studio debt to lender equity.
Once the plan exits the bankruptcy Court, Spyglass and a related subsidiary would get a 4.7 per cent equity of the studio while Barber and Birnbaum would become co-CEOs of MGM.
The bankruptcy filing is expected by month‘s end, with the subsequent court process likely to take about 30 days.
Current owners of MGM including Providence Equity, TPG Capital, Sony, Comcast, DLJ Merchant and Quadrangle would have their hold on the studio erased, in the proposed reorganisation.
Hedge funds Anchorage, Highland, Davidson Kempner and Solis acquired about 35 per cent of MGM‘s publicly traded debt last year. 51 per cent of lenders have to approve a prepackaged bankruptcy representing two-thirds of the amount owed.
The studio is being currently run by an office of the CEO Stephen Cooper, CFO Bedi Singh and film personality Mary Parent. All of them would exit their posts after the studio‘s revamp.
