By Ronald Grover March 17 (Bloomberg) — John Malone ’s Liberty Media Corp. has decided against making a bid for the Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Inc. movie studio, according to two people with knowledge of the media company’s plans. Liberty’s assessment of MGM’s value fell below a price company executives believed would be acceptable to the Los Angeles-based studio’s creditors, the people said. The Englewood, Colorado-based company, owner of the Starz Entertainment pay television service, was among five parties considering second-round bids for MGM. The studio, which stopped making payments on $3.7 billion in debt and put itself up for sale last year, has set a March 19 deadline. Others exploring a second-round bid included billionaire Len Blavatnik’s Access Industries, Time Warner Inc. , Lions Gate Entertainment Corp. and producer Ryan Kavanaugh ’s Relativity Media, in conjunction with private equity firm Elliott Capital, people close to the process said on Feb. 3. Courtnee Ulrich , a spokeswoman for Liberty, didn’t immediately respond to a phone call and e-mail seeking comment. In 2003, Malone withdrew from bidding for Vivendi Universal’s Los Angeles-based operations, including the film studio and theme park. Liberty is evaluating options for its three-year old movie-production unit, Overture Films. Liberty’s Starz tracking stock dropped 41 cents to $51.68 at 2:15 p.m. New York time in Nasdaq Stock Market trading. The shares gained 13 percent this year before today. To contact the reporter on this story: Ronald Grover in Los Angeles at rgrover5@bloomberg.net
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Malone’s Liberty Media Is Said to Drop Out of Metro-Goldwyn Studio Bidding
