The Firm represented JPMorgan Chase Bank, N.A. as agent under Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer’s $4 billion senior secured credit facility in MGM’s prepackaged Chapter 11 case. The restructuring took over a year and ended with a plan of reorganization that transferred ownership of the movie studio to JPMorgan and the syndicate lenders. The Firm worked closely with both JPMorgan and a steering committee of hedge funds that included Highland Capital, Anchorage Capital, DK Acquisition and Solus Capital.
Under the plan, which the U.S. Bankruptcy Court for the Southern District of New York confirmed on December 6, 2010, JPMorgan and the other lenders became owners of substantially all of the equity in the reorganized company. The company emerged from Chapter 11 on December 20, 2010, less than two months after its bankruptcy filing. Prior to filing for Chapter 11 relief, JPMorgan and the steering committee engaged in an extensive management search that ultimately culminated in the hiring of Gary Barber and Roger Birnbaum of Spyglass Entertainment as co-CEOs of the reorganized company.
In conjunction with the company’s exit from bankruptcy, the Firm also represented JPMorgan as arranger for the reorganized company of a $500 million secured credit facility consisting of a $325 million term loan facility and a $175 million revolving credit facility. The exit facility will be used for working capital and general corporate purposes, including film development and production.
The Simpson Thacher team included: Peter Pantaleo, Soogy Lee, Nicholas Baker and Jason Friedman (Bankruptcy), Helen Kim, Ed Shen, Steven Sutton and Chris Piazza (M&A), Jill Kalish and Andre Gray (Banking and Credit), Alvin Brown and David Schneider (Executive Compensation and Employee Benefits), Lori Lesser (Intellectual Property) and Nancy Mehlman and Jonathan Talansky (Tax).