Indian group likely to bid for Hollywood icon MGM

[demoleft]

Source: afp/france24

AFP - India's Reliance Entertainment is likely to bid for US film group Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer (MGM), the Hollywood studio behind classics such as James Bond and the Pink Panther, a report said Friday.

The Economic Times, citing an unnamed person familiar with the deal, said Reliance could be one of a dozen potential bidders in the running for MGM, which has been put up for sale.

The revered studio was bought by a group of investors, including private equity groups, in 2004 for around five billion dollars. It faces crushing debt repayment obligations stemming from the buyout and has been put on the block.
...
Reliance Entertainment, part of the Reliance business empire controlled by billionaire Anil Ambani, has invested in Steven Spielberg's DreamWorks Studios, but is looking to increase its presence in Hollywood, the newspaper said.

Read more: http://www.france24.com/en/20100115-indian-group-likely-bid-hollywood-icon-mgm

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well and why not?

[GreenPartyVoter]

1. Will Bollywood come to Hollywood? :^)

[mrbarber]

2. I hope so.

Bollywood actresses make my heart go all aflutter.

[GreenPartyVoter]

3. They are lovely. For myself, I greatly enjoy the dance numbers. :^)

[madrchsod]

4. i totally agree.....

[NashVegas]

5. Brimful of Asha?

[avaistheone1]

6. Swedish companies shun foreign ownership

At a time when Sweden's largest automakers, Saab and Volvo – both owned by American companies – are up for grabs, Swedish companies remain sceptical about foreign ownership.

Almost seven out of ten heads of industrial companies think that Swedish corporations should be owned and managed domestically, reports financial daily Dagens Industri (DI).

http://www.thelocal.se/24142/20091231/



When foreign companies buy American companies those profits go back to the ownership country not America. To ensure America's long-term prosperity and national security, strict limits on foreign government investments in U.S. companies and other hard assets are needed - and they are needed fast.

The U.S. can still sell Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer (MGM) to another U.S. buyer, and you can still watch the Bollywood ladies. We need the dollars here in the U.S. Other countries get this, I hope we wake up soon.

[Chicago dyke]

7. you're funny

this country is dead, the minute foreign money stops flowing in. not that i disagree with the idea that corporations should be mostly owned by citizens of this country and taxed accordingly, but we're a long, long way from that reality. piss off rich foreigners and the government can't finance its debt, among other things.

[verges]

9. But money won't be flowing in.

The profits go to the foreign owner. Foreign money DOES need to flow in. But as customers, not owners.

[MetaTrope]

11. "Crushing debt repayment obligations stemming from the buyout"

Sounds like it's the American owners who have destroyed the studio in the first place, in the name of the almighty dollar.

[verges]

8. A return to MGM musicals. nt

[demoleft]

10. "Filming in Hollywood slumps as recession bites" - afp

AFP - On-location filming in Los Angeles plunged by nearly 20 percent last year, the sharpest annual decline since records began, the group responsible for issuing film permits in the area said Friday.

Film LA revealed in a statement that Los Angeles County continued to see an exodus of production, which has been attributed to the recession, attractive tax breaks offered by other regions and the fall-out from a contract dispute with actors.

The group said the number of permitted production days in Los Angeles and surrounding areas dropped to 37,979 in 2009, down from 47,117 in 2008.
...
Feature film production was particularly hard hit, Film LA said, falling to 4,976 permitted production days from 7,096 in 2008, the lowest level since 1993 and less than half what it was a decade ago, according to local media.

afp/france24, http://www.france24.com/en/20100115-filming-hollywood-slumps-recession-bites

[Matariki]

12. A SONG in every Hollywood movie?!?

how cool would that be ;-)