MGM issued the following statement today after I and BusinessWeek received tips that Goldman Sachs had been retained to shop MGM. (See Goldman Sachs Shopping MGM — Again.) 
Back when MGM was last on the block in 2004, Goldman Sachs handled that deal, too. Sony and Comcast and Providence Equity Partners and TPG paid roughly $5 billion in debt and equity to acquire then publicly traded MGM from its majority owner Kirk Kerkorian. But one of my financing sources has this to say about MGM’s denial today: “What utter bullshit double-speak ‘to explore long term enhancements to your capital structure’. What they did is just confirm that they have retained Goldman Sachs.”:
LOS ANGELES, CA (August 25, 2008) — Contrary to recent media reports, Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Studios Inc. (MGM) is not for sale. There is no “asking price” for the company. MGM’s existing financing arrangements are sufficient to meet its needs. Goldman, Sachs has been retained to explore enhancements to MGM’s long-term capital structure. All of the MGM shareholders, including Providence Equity Partners, TPG, Sony Corp. Of America and Comcast Corp, are pleased with the Company’s current momentum and are committed to the future growth of the studio.
What? No takers at $5 billion?
Part of me is rooting for MGM to be reborn, though I think something drastic must be done to get people to stop seeing the MGM brand as standing for Moribund Geriatric Movie company.
MGM died a slow, painful death around 1973. It was the studio most invested in the Old Hollywood world, and hence fell the hardest.
Can’t blame anyone for not wanting to buy a shell. Hell, it doesn’t even own its own pre-1986 movies! It would take a miracle, and/or Steven Spielberg, to make MGM a relevant player in the 21st Century.
They need $400 million for the Hobbit and several other films right now.
Lets pass the hat for Harry.
Not sure why its always negative here. But on a positive note MGM hasn’t had a hit for awhile. Yet it’s worth 5 billion on the market. This chart shows its hits, notably legally blonde 7 years ago. http://www.the-numbers.com/market/Distributors/MGM.php
So why sell it? Today I bought Dr. Zhivago for 8.99 the Bullock, etc collections were at 3 for 8.99 at Costco. the DVD still said MGM, while the case said WB.
MGM had that Vicky movie. Further thoughts, according to Wiki-com it took 34 years for the company to loose money. When the suckers sale MGM, it will once again be great despite being owned by Chrysler. For more illustrative reading on how a studio should be run find an old copy of Goldwyn by A. Scot Berg.
Maybe when its sold, the MGM execs who dealt it will learn how to run a tamale stand. I mean Robo Cop 2, Pink Panther 2 and that German movie. If I ran a studio like Goldwyn intended films to be it would be fewer releases more quality. Not fewer films that well speak for themselves.
Such a storied history…MGM has been the fire hydrant in the dog park that is hollywood for far too long; may a true white knight restore some of its legendary luster…
I agree. You would have to be a genius to be able to make back $5 billion anytime soon. That’s a lot of James Bond sequels and Stargate videos you would have to make.
You people keep talking about today’s MGM like it was yesteryear’s MGM.
They are not the same studio, company or people.
They don’t stand for anything like the old MGM stood for as a brand.
That’s like saying Conan taking over the Tonight Show is like taking over Johnny Carson’s show.
It’s not, it’s taking over Jay Leno’s show.
The MGM of today is not the studio you love and remember.
Don’t mourn it.
Pity the investor pretenders inhabiting it like a hermit crab in another crabs shell.
Now let’s see if they can release a movie or two in the next year and we will reconvene on this topic if they do.
When the lion can roar again, then we can call them a real studio again.
Back in 2004 when Sony/Comcast and Time Warner were fighting it out to buy MGM everyone at ‘the lion’ was working hard to make sure that Warners didn’t get it.
They knew that Time Warner didn’t want another active film studio and that they intended to close MGM and absorb it into WB as soon as possible. A fate that befell New Line.
They didn’t want this old guard of the Hollywood studio system being nothing more than a filing cabinet within Warner Home Video which they knew would be the case.
Now, four years later here we are again. MGM has more lives than a lucky cat but has it dawned on anyone that perhaps it’s time to let MGM die with some dignity? Their new slate totally reflects this. Apart from the Hobbit and Bond films it’s filled with unknowns and remakes that absolutely no one is asking for.
While the Robocop pseudo remake from Darren Aronofsky sounds interesting who really wants to see a remake of Red Dawn? Really?
A few years from now MGM will be nothing more than a filing cabinet within some other larger studio’s home video department and the only time we’ll see the MGM lion roaring will be on occasional Bond film that’s distributed by someone else.
Perhaps it’s time to let MGM go the way of flesh.
Beside Bond,MGM needs another strong franchise to pull it out of its duldrums. I’m surprised that Goldman Sachs hasn’t left it all these years. But the studio needs something real strong.
Yet again, Warner Borg shows his true colors. So what would you have– four studios? Three? Two? Oh wait– one. Warners. Please go away. As for material “no one is asking for,” how did SPEED RACER turn out?
Yet again, Warner Borg shows his true colors. So what would you have– four studios? Three? Two? Oh wait– one. Warners. Please go away. As for material “no one is asking for,” how did SPEED RACER turn out?
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You misunderstand me Jack Burton. I’m a big supporter of the ‘little guy’. I’m a big supporter of there being more and more places for professionals to go and get work. Be it writing, directing, acting or some stage/tech profession.
I’m totally against everyone being folded into one another until there’s only WB, Disney and Sony left. Hence the name Warner Borg. I’m still rooting for Lionsgate to stay ‘independent’ and not get swallowed by one of the majors at some point.
However, I deal in reality. MGM isn’t making films, let alone hit films. It has assets that are attractive to other media giants. This is an eventuality. How many times can MGM come back from the dead before someone finally deals it a deadly blow?
At one point MGM was owned by a French bank and it still managed to crawl out of the ground.
If this is your first day in the ‘business of show’ then I can totally see how you might get all hot and bothered under the collar by what I wrote but this is the way the modern studio system is.
And for the record Speed Racer was a terrible idea from day one. Just like Wolfgang Petersen’s Poseidon remake and Abrams Star Trek redux.
Stop all this crap – let’s put the blame for MGM’s demise firmly on the colossal asshole who is personally responsible:
KIRK KIRKORIAN
He has bought & sold this studio several times, and with each new ‘visit’ he deminishes & rips more guts out of it to sell a thinner ‘shell’. There’s practically nothing left to the poor studio these days except a thin library & a logo for stationery.
Kirk Kirkorian – bastard extraordinaire, obnoxiously greedy to his last breath.
MGM isn’t for sale and Tommy Cruise farts pixie dust. What’s another line of bullshit to be fed to shareholders at this point?