HOLLYWOOD—The famous Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer (MGM) Studios is up for sale of their entire library for a reported $5.5 billion. According to the Wall Street Journal, MGM has hired banks Morgan Stanley and LionTree LLC to initiate the sale, which value is based on traded shares and debt.
The studio behind golden era classics like “Gone With the Wind,” “The Wizard of Oz,” and “Ben-Hur,” has been riddled with financial troubles for 10 years as they are bankrupt. Some of their most prominent assets of ownership include the James Bond franchise and the “Rocky,” which has not been enough to hold them above their debts. MGM has had to rely on other studios, such as Sony and Columbia to release their films and TVseries. MGM currently owns and runs television premium channel EPIX, along with serval production companies like Orion and United Artists.
Even though MGM has been in debt for a decade, they are putting their entire library on the market because streaming services are dominating the film and TV industry at the current moment as the movie industry struggles to compete.
The CEO of MGMs biggest shareholder, Anchorage Capital Group, and MGM Chairman Board Kevin Ulrich is under pressure to sell immediately, as MGM hopes their assets and history brings attention to any lucrative studio or buyer, the Wall Street Journal reported.
MGM’s library includes 4,000 film and television titles, including “The Silence of the Lambs,” “RoboCop,” “Fargo,” “Rocky,” “The Voice,” and “The Handmaid’s Tale” to name a few.
