Sony-MGM?
p2pnet.net News:- Sony, whose merger with BMG turned it into Sony-BMG, the world’s largest record company, says it’s going to buy Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer and its film library.
Time Warner was thinking of acquiring MGM, but apparently pulled out yesterday.
Now Sony has stepped in.
MGM said it received a $150 million security deposit on Monday and that it expected management would recommend the deal to its board by September 27, says a story in The Street.
"The purchase of the 80-year-old studio – which owns the James Bond films – for around $4.8bn (£2.6bn) means Sony will have the world’s largest film library of around 7,600 titles, with around 4,100 of those from MGM," says a report in The Guardian online, going on:
"In a separate deal, Sony said it had also reached an agreement with the US cable TV operator Comcast for it to offer Sony and MGM movies over its video on demand systems and new cable channels it would form with Sony."
Sony could have a field day with MGM’s library, "distributing movies via DVD and other media," says The Street.
The Guardian quotes Kazuya Yamamoto, an analyst at UFJ Tsubasa Securities in Tokyo, as saying the ’synergy’ between electronics and entertainment that Sony executives had been discussing for years was difficult to attain.
Difficult, but not impossible.
Through its movie and record label holdings, Sony is a member of the corporate entertainment community. And through Sony electronics, it’s also selling burners and camcorders.
Straddling both sides of the fence certainly covers the options.
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See:-
security deposit – Sony Closes In on $5 Billion MGM Deal, The Street, September 14, 2004
film library – Sony agrees MGM deal, The Guardian, Septemer 14, 2004
covers the options – Sony’s new HD camcorder, p2pnet, September 7, 2004
