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LOS ANGELES — Less than two months after hiring restructuring guru Stephen Cooper as a top executive, debt-laden Hollywood studio Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Inc. said Thursday it received a brief respite from making interest payments on nearly $4 billion in debt.
MGM said in a statement its lenders are allowing it to skip interest payments due at the end of September, October and November. Its next interest payment is now due Dec. 15.
The studio, which launched a revamp of the 1980 musical "Fame" last week, owes $3.7 billion to a total 140 lenders in the form of bonds maturing in mid-2012. It also has a $250 million revolving credit facility with JPMorgan due in April.
The agreement "provides MGM with additional liquidity as discussions continue regarding the development of an optimal capital structure," the company said.
A person close to the company said MGM had enough cash on hand to cover the interest payments, but the deal gives it an extra cushion to spend on marketing such upcoming movies as the slasher flick "The Cabin in the Woods," due out in February.
The person was not authorized to speak publicly about the matter and spoke on condition of anonymity.
"Fame," a low-budget coproduction with Lakeshore Entertainment, has so far grossed just $16 million worldwide.
"Stargate Universe," a science-fiction series made by MGM, debuts Friday on the Syfy cable network. The studio owns rights to the James Bond and Pink Panther franchises and is developing two films based on J.R.R. Tolkien's novel, "The Hobbit," set for release in late 2011. A remake of the 1982 hit "Poltergeist" is due out next year.
MGM was taken private for nearly $5 billion in 2005 by a group led by Providence Equity Partners, Texas Pacific Group, Sony Corp. and Comcast Corp., DLJ Merchant Banking Partners and Quadrangle Group.
Cooper, the former chief executive officer of Krispy Kreme Doughnuts Inc. and Enron Corp., was hired in August as vice chairman to join an "Office of the CEO," which replaced then chief executive Harry Sloan.
