[GomiGirl]

So if successful this will put to use with all of the new batch of Sony-Ericcson smart phones.. will make the whole mobile multimedia space very interesting. Will be a whole new ball game from everything from video based ring-tones style customisation etc. interesting!!

[Taro Toporific]

Alas, M-G-M is not M-G-M anymore.
M-G-M, the company, still exists in a new skyscraper in Century City, but stripped of both its historic Culver City studio lot and most of its former glory.

MGM bidding war!
Time Warner 'joins MGM bid fight'
BBC News, UK - 2 July 2004
The bidding war for the major US film studio Metro Goldwyn Mayer has heated up with Time Warner stepping into the fray, according to reports. ...
The Wall Street Journal and New York Times claim the world's biggest media group had joined Sony in the battle...
Reports claim that Time Warner's offer is made up of cash and shares, while Sony's bid - which includes several private equity partners - is made up of cash and assumed debt.

[Mulboyne]

I wonder who can run this kind of organization? If any company is willing to try to find out then we know Sony has the appetite. Coca Cola and Matsushita both gave up on Hollywood while Sony has stuck in there.

Check out Hit and Run: How Jon Peters and Peter Guber Took Sony for a Ride in Hollywood for Sony's kindergarten lesson.

Next lesson can be found in Howling at the Moon : The Odyssey of a Monstrous Music Mogul in an Age of Excess (By Walter Yetnikoff, Sony's man in Columbia)

While all these guys used Sony for their own reasons and represent them as a bunch of sushi-heads, the company has actually never taken a fatal hit through their actions (although they have far more debt than would seem prudent for the risks they take.) Compare that with Seagram and Vivendi.

If I was a Sony or Time Warner investor/lender, mind you, I think I would want a pretty firm idea of who would be in charge. It has been interesting to read all the criticism of Michael Eisner at Disney and realize that no-one has a clue who else could do the job.

[Taro Toporific]

...While all these [evil gaijin] guys used Sony for their own reasons and represent them as a bunch of sushi-heads, the company has actually never taken a fatal hit .... It has been interesting to read all the criticism of Michael Eisner at Disney and realize that no-one has a clue who else could do the job.

Who? Since your askin', Mulboyne 'n' Taro could do it. Do they you think they'll take old beer coupons as our take-over bid? :P

[Mulboyne]

Looks like this is finally going to happen.

MGM studios to be bought by Sony

Hollywood's last major independent studio, Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer, says it has agreed in principle to be bought by Japan's Sony Corporation.
US media group Time Warner earlier withdrew its bid for MGM saying it could not agree on a price.