04-23-2004, 09:35 AM
Si esto se logra, supongo que el mercado de DVD R4 se vera en serios problemas (*cof* Edición Especial Fuckscreen *cof*)
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NEW YORK (Reuters) - Japan's Sony Corp (news - web sites). (6758.T) and two U.S. buyout firms are in advanced talks to buy U.S. film studio Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Inc. (NYSE:MGM - news) for about $5 billion, putting the owner of James Bond movies back in play on Wall Street, sources said on Wednesday.
Sony initiated the talks because it wanted access to MGM's 4,000-plus film library that includes the James Bond and Pink Panther films and numerous Oscar winners, people familiar with the deal said. Libraries provide steady revenues from sales of DVDs, videos and TV licensing.
Some analysts saw the news as an opening round in a new bidding war for MGM and most noted that talk of an MGM sale has surfaced often. The studio is 74 percent-owned by 86-year-old billionaire Kirk Kerkorian and his Tracinda Corp investment firm. He bought MGM for $1.3 billion in 1996 for a third time.
"They had talked to Sony (in the past). We knew that," said Hal Vogel, a New York-based fund manager. "They had talked to many people. This is one that seems to be serious."
The buyout firms joining Sony are Texas Pacific Group and Providence Equity Partners, sources said. The three are expected to split a cash investment of $1.5 billion and borrow the balance. MGM has hired investment bank Goldman Sachs (NYSE:GS - news) to represent it, said sources who knew of the deal.
A deal would enable MGM shareholders to cash out for roughly $21 a share, more than double the share price a year ago. MGM shares jumped 12 percent at $19.75 on the New York Stock Exchange (news - web sites) on the news on Wednesday while Sony's stock added 2.4 percent in Tokyo on Thursday.
Key to an agreement would be whether MGM would pursue a one-time cash dividend of $8 a share. MGM said late Wednesday it would put the plan to a board vote when it completed a refinancing package expected next week.
MGM, Sony, Texas Pacific and Goldman Sachs all declined to comment. Providence Equity could not be reached. Other firms involved in talks have included Apax Partners, sources said.
"I wouldn't take (talk of a deal) as gospel," said David Miller, an analyst with Sanders Morris Harris. "This is kind of an opening round in a long, protracted negotiation." He put MGM's share value at close to $22.
THE SONY FIT
Emerging markets specialist Mark Mobius of Templeton Asset Management Ltd, which holds stock in Sony, said a deal made sense as Sony's electronics business faced greater competition and owning the library could be lucrative.
"I would have to ask the management how they will integrate this kind of software business -- you know the movie business, MGM and so forth -- into the other parts of their business -- where these all fit," Mobius said.
Along with games and music, Sony's movie division is one the pillars of Chief Executive Nobuyuki Idei's vision of a interconnected world linking content with Sony's electronics.
"MGM has a wonderful library... The problem has always been price," said Mario Gabelli, chief investment officer of Gabelli Asset Management, which holds MGM stock.
So far, competitors, such as Apple Computer Inc (Nasdaq:AAPL - news) and its iPod digital music player, have been far more successful at turning a combination of content and hardware into profits.
Sony's acquisition of Columbia Pictures in 1989 for $3.4 billion, the largest ever acquisition by a Japanese firm at the time, caused numerous headaches for Sony due to losses from elaborate spending budgets and box office duds.
"This whole act could end up as another big catastrophe for Sony," said Standard & Poor's equity analyst John Yang.
Sony's movie division, which accounted for 11 percent of group revenues in the business year ended March 31, 2003, is counting on a strong box office returns from "Spider-Man 2," due out this summer, to lift slumping profits at the unit.
GETTING HIS MONEY BACK
Kerkorian and Tracinda bought MGM in 1996 from an affiliate of French bank Credit Lyonnais after the studio had suffered years of Losses. Chief Executive Alex Yemenidjian engineered a turnaround and added to the library by acquiring other companies.
Last summer MGM lost a battle to buy Vivendi Universal Entertainment after offering around $11.5 billion for assets that included Universal Studios.
General Electric Co.'s (NYSE:GE - news) NBC television network bought the assets from Vivendi Universal (EAUG.PA)(NYSE:V - news).
MGM was reported to have hired Goldman Sachs to auction the company for $7 billion in January 2002, which would have represented a price of around $30 a share at the time. MGM's stock price has gyrated in recent years as it had box-office hits like "Legally Blonde" as well as flops such as "Windtalkers."
Kerkorian is said to want to recoup at least part of his investment, and that desire has led to the one-time dividend. Talk of a deal surfaced the same day the $2.4 billion loan MGM will use to finance its dividend was allocated, according to Loan Pricing Corp, a unit of Reuters Group Plc. MGM would be essentially debt free if it did not borrow to fund the payout.
"It doesn't make any sense to declare the distribution and then sell," Miller said, adding that either way "Kirk is going to make his money back." (Additional reporting by Jeffrey Goldfarb, Julie MacIntosh and Bob Tourtellotte and Daisuke Wakabayashi)
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NEW YORK (Reuters) - Japan's Sony Corp (news - web sites). (6758.T) and two U.S. buyout firms are in advanced talks to buy U.S. film studio Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Inc. (NYSE:MGM - news) for about $5 billion, putting the owner of James Bond movies back in play on Wall Street, sources said on Wednesday.
Sony initiated the talks because it wanted access to MGM's 4,000-plus film library that includes the James Bond and Pink Panther films and numerous Oscar winners, people familiar with the deal said. Libraries provide steady revenues from sales of DVDs, videos and TV licensing.
Some analysts saw the news as an opening round in a new bidding war for MGM and most noted that talk of an MGM sale has surfaced often. The studio is 74 percent-owned by 86-year-old billionaire Kirk Kerkorian and his Tracinda Corp investment firm. He bought MGM for $1.3 billion in 1996 for a third time.
"They had talked to Sony (in the past). We knew that," said Hal Vogel, a New York-based fund manager. "They had talked to many people. This is one that seems to be serious."
The buyout firms joining Sony are Texas Pacific Group and Providence Equity Partners, sources said. The three are expected to split a cash investment of $1.5 billion and borrow the balance. MGM has hired investment bank Goldman Sachs (NYSE:GS - news) to represent it, said sources who knew of the deal.
A deal would enable MGM shareholders to cash out for roughly $21 a share, more than double the share price a year ago. MGM shares jumped 12 percent at $19.75 on the New York Stock Exchange (news - web sites) on the news on Wednesday while Sony's stock added 2.4 percent in Tokyo on Thursday.
Key to an agreement would be whether MGM would pursue a one-time cash dividend of $8 a share. MGM said late Wednesday it would put the plan to a board vote when it completed a refinancing package expected next week.
MGM, Sony, Texas Pacific and Goldman Sachs all declined to comment. Providence Equity could not be reached. Other firms involved in talks have included Apax Partners, sources said.
"I wouldn't take (talk of a deal) as gospel," said David Miller, an analyst with Sanders Morris Harris. "This is kind of an opening round in a long, protracted negotiation." He put MGM's share value at close to $22.
THE SONY FIT
Emerging markets specialist Mark Mobius of Templeton Asset Management Ltd, which holds stock in Sony, said a deal made sense as Sony's electronics business faced greater competition and owning the library could be lucrative.
"I would have to ask the management how they will integrate this kind of software business -- you know the movie business, MGM and so forth -- into the other parts of their business -- where these all fit," Mobius said.
Along with games and music, Sony's movie division is one the pillars of Chief Executive Nobuyuki Idei's vision of a interconnected world linking content with Sony's electronics.
"MGM has a wonderful library... The problem has always been price," said Mario Gabelli, chief investment officer of Gabelli Asset Management, which holds MGM stock.
So far, competitors, such as Apple Computer Inc (Nasdaq:AAPL - news) and its iPod digital music player, have been far more successful at turning a combination of content and hardware into profits.
Sony's acquisition of Columbia Pictures in 1989 for $3.4 billion, the largest ever acquisition by a Japanese firm at the time, caused numerous headaches for Sony due to losses from elaborate spending budgets and box office duds.
"This whole act could end up as another big catastrophe for Sony," said Standard & Poor's equity analyst John Yang.
Sony's movie division, which accounted for 11 percent of group revenues in the business year ended March 31, 2003, is counting on a strong box office returns from "Spider-Man 2," due out this summer, to lift slumping profits at the unit.
GETTING HIS MONEY BACK
Kerkorian and Tracinda bought MGM in 1996 from an affiliate of French bank Credit Lyonnais after the studio had suffered years of Losses. Chief Executive Alex Yemenidjian engineered a turnaround and added to the library by acquiring other companies.
Last summer MGM lost a battle to buy Vivendi Universal Entertainment after offering around $11.5 billion for assets that included Universal Studios.
General Electric Co.'s (NYSE:GE - news) NBC television network bought the assets from Vivendi Universal (EAUG.PA)(NYSE:V - news).
MGM was reported to have hired Goldman Sachs to auction the company for $7 billion in January 2002, which would have represented a price of around $30 a share at the time. MGM's stock price has gyrated in recent years as it had box-office hits like "Legally Blonde" as well as flops such as "Windtalkers."
Kerkorian is said to want to recoup at least part of his investment, and that desire has led to the one-time dividend. Talk of a deal surfaced the same day the $2.4 billion loan MGM will use to finance its dividend was allocated, according to Loan Pricing Corp, a unit of Reuters Group Plc. MGM would be essentially debt free if it did not borrow to fund the payout.
"It doesn't make any sense to declare the distribution and then sell," Miller said, adding that either way "Kirk is going to make his money back." (Additional reporting by Jeffrey Goldfarb, Julie MacIntosh and Bob Tourtellotte and Daisuke Wakabayashi)
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