Time Warner makes bid for MGM
The world’s biggest media group, Time Warner, has made a preliminary offer to buy Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer (MGM), The Wall Street Journal and New York Times reported.
Pricing remains in flux and no written offer is on the table, sources said on Thursday.
According to the Times, the offer amounts to $4.7 billion (€3.9 billion), slightly less than a five-billion-dollar bid by Sony.
Sony’s offer, which includes debt assumption, would allow the Japanese consumer electronics, movie and music giant to acquire 80-year-old MGM studio’s 4,200-title library of post-1948 movies and create the industry’s largest collection.
Time Warner’s bid would pay about $13 in cash to MGM shareholders and about $11.50 dollars a share in Time Warner stock to the studio’s major shareholder, billionaire Kirk Kerkorian.
The Times report said that Kerkorian was particularly attracted by the idea of becoming a major shareholder in Time Warner.
At MGM’s shareholder meeting on Tuesday, studio executives told investors MGM was exploring alternatives. There was no mention of a pending Sony deal.
Shares of Time Warner ended on Wednesday’s session up one percent at $17.58 dollars. MGM shares shed one percent to close at $12.10 dollars. Sony shares added nine cents to finish the session at $38.05 dollars.