Here we go again - MGM reconsiders $2b offer from India's Sahara

28-Sep-2010 • Bond News

Indian conglomerate Sahara India Pariwar says that the creditors of struggling Hollywood studio Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Inc. have agreed to reconsider its $2 billion cash offer for the company - reports Business Week.

The development marks a reversal from last week, when Sahara said the creditors committee rejected the offer within hours of a conference call with Sahara chairman Subrata Roy Sahara.

Sahara has now hired a U.S. investment bank to represent it, Sahara spokeswoman Marcy DePina said Tuesday. Part of the quick rejection had to do with Sahara submitting documentation of its assets in rupees, she said.

A spokesman for Houlihan Lokey, an investment bank that is advising MGM's creditors, declined to comment.

MGM's creditors, owed around $4 billion, have been trying since last year to restructure the studio, which has rights to the James Bond franchise and owns half of the upcoming movies based on J.R.R. Tolkien's "The Hobbit."

Creditors have allowed MGM to delay interest and principal payments since October of last year. The current waiver lasts until Oct. 29.

MGM is facing a possible prepackaged bankruptcy. It has several suitors, including Spyglass Entertainment, Time Warner Inc. and Lions Gate Entertainment Corp.