【英语科技】米高梅电影公司申请破产重组

Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Inc. on Wednesday filed for bankruptcy-court protection, cementing a long fall for the iconic Hollywood studio with the roaring-lion logo.

MGM filed a 'prepackaged' Chapter 11 bankruptcy in New York that has approval from nearly all its creditors. Creditors last week approved a plan to forgive more than $4 billion in debt for ownership stakes in the restructured studio and turn over management to Spyglass Entertainment co-founders Gary Barber and Roger Birnbaum.

Dissident creditor Carl Icahn agreed to support MGM's restructuring after the studio made several changes to its reorganization plan. Mr. Icahn will get a board seat once MGM exits bankruptcy. Messrs. Barber and Birnbaum will no longer be chairmen of MGM's new board at the holding company level. And older Spyglass films won't be merged with MGM's film library.

Spyglass, the production firm behind recent films such as the latest incarnation of 'Star Trek' and 'Get Him to the Greek,' had planned to merge some older films for a little more than a 4% equity stake in the studio. But Mr. Icahn protested the films were overvalued.

Mr. Icahn said the changes enabled MGM to 'avoid a potentially costly and disruptive bankruptcy process.' MGM called the changes 'immaterial' and said they would be filed with the bankruptcy court for approval.

MGM said it expects a bankruptcy judge to approve its restructuring in about a month. The studio plans to raise about $500 million upon exiting bankruptcy to fund new films and television shows.

Mr. Icahn had offered to buy out other MGM creditors at a premium to upend the vote on the Spyglass restructuring plan but failed to get enough support to block the deal.

Mr. Icahn has been pushing MGM's most influential creditors to merge with Lions Gate Entertainment Corp., a rival studio that he has been trying to take over all year as its largest shareholder.

MGM's largest creditors have agreed informally to continue discussing a possible merger with Lions Gate. But they stopped short of inserting language in the studio's restructuring plan that would specifically require 'good faith' negotiations, said people familiar with the situation.

MGM, home to a 4,100-title film library that includes the 'James Bond' and 'Rocky' franchises, struggled amid debt taken on in a 2005 leveraged buyout and proved unable to produce enough new movies to keep customers interested in its older films. The film library's cash flows recently plunged to $228 million from more than $500 million just a few years ago, according to people close to the situation.

米高梅电影公司(Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Inc.)周三申请破产保护，这家以咆哮的狮子为标识的好莱坞标志性电影公司，其旷日持久的衰落过程终于告一段落。

经几乎全部债权人许可，米高梅在纽约申请按预先确定的方案进行破产重组。债权人在上周批准一项方案，同意免去米高梅40多亿美元的债务，以换取重组后公司的股权，并将公司管理权移交给Spyglass Entertainment公司的共同创始人巴伯(Gary Barber)和伯恩鲍姆(Roger Birnbaum)。

持不同意见的债权人伊坎(Carl Icahn)在米高梅对重组方案做了数次改动后同意支持该公司重组。一旦米高梅走出破产程序，伊坎就将获得一个董事席位。巴伯和伯恩鲍姆将不再是米高梅控股公司新董事会的主席。Spyglass公司的老片不会并入米高梅的电影资料馆。

Spyglass是《星际迷航》(Star Trek)最新翻拍版、《前往希腊剧院》(Get Him to the Greek)等近期影片的制作公司。它曾打算把部分老片并入米高梅，以换取米高梅略高于4%的股份。但伊坎表示反对，说这些影片出价过高。

Getty Images伊坎将获得一个董事席位伊坎说，所做的改动使米高梅避免了一个“可能费钱又混乱的破产程序”。米高梅说这些改动“无关紧要”，并说这些改动将被提交给破产法庭批准。

米高梅说，它预计一位破产法官将会在大约一个月后批准破产方案。该公司计划在走完破产程序后融资约5亿美元，为拍摄新的电影和电视节目提供资金。

伊坎曾提出溢价收购米高梅其他债权人手中的债权，从而否决把管理权移交给Spyglass公司的方案，但他没有得到足够的支持，所以未能封杀这个方案。

伊坎一直在劝说米高梅那些最有影响的债权人，希望能让米高梅与竞争对手狮门娱乐公司(Lions Gate Entertainment Corp.)合并。伊坎是狮门娱乐的最大股东，整个一年都在设法收购这家公司。

米高梅最大的几家债权人已非正式同意继续讨论是否让米高梅与狮门娱乐合并的问题，但知情人士说，他们没有在重组方案中特别加入要求举行“真诚”谈判的措辞。

米高梅的电影资料馆拥有电影4,100部，其中包括《007》和《洛奇》(Rocky)系列影片的拍摄权。该公司2005年的一次杠杆收购使它深陷债务泥潭，且事实证明它无法制作出足够的新电影来保持客户对其老片的兴趣。据知情人士说，电影资料馆的现金流仅仅几年前还有5亿美元，最近已大幅减少到了2.28亿美元。