Things are going so badly with MGM’s restructuring review that a forced bankruptcy is a real possibility by Sept. 15.
Lenders don’t want to lose control of the studio’s lucrative James Bond movie rights. So one of them could still dig deeper to provide enough new equity capital to make a voluntary restructuring feasible. Or if that option fails, the Century City studio could obtain a seventh extension of its debt forbearance agreement with its 100-plus lenders.
This problem has persisted for a year.
The studio has secured six forbearance agreements, or delays of the deadline for paying principal and interest on its senior bank debt. Strapped by almost $4 billion in total corporate debt, MGM repeatedly has gotten lenders to postpone recoupment of a $250 million revolving credit facility and $200 million or so in related interest payments.
Meanwhile, if you’re hoping for any MGM movies to be released in the upcoming months, you may want to put that on hold. Like the next James Bond movie, two films based on J.R.R. Tolkien’s book The Hobbit, a planned “Three Stooges” movie and a “Robocop” remake.
So, not a total loss, then.
