MGM turns to Cooper
August 19, 2009
Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer, crumbling under the weight of a $3.7 billion loan, has ousted its CEO, Harry E. Sloan, in favour of the turnaround expert Stephen F. Cooper, who ran Enron during its bankruptcy.
Once the most powerful studios in Hollywood, MGM has not released a movie since "Valkyrie" in December and will release only one film this year, a remake of "Fame." The studio pays about $300 million a year in interest and faces $1 billion in payments in June 2011. The rest of the loan is due the next year. MGM also has a $250 million line of credit that matures in April.
MGM is owned by a consortium that includes Sony, Comcast, the private equity firm Providence Equity Partners and a handful of other investors.