MGM Starting to Get Details From Vivendi

Sources close to Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Inc. said Vivendi Universal has been supplying a substantial amount of information to the studio about the entertainment assets it is selling, but that it is too early to tell whether everything MGM wants has been received.

Los Angeles movie studio MGM is a bidder for the French company’s assets, which include Universal Studios, the Universal theme parks and TV operations such as USA Network and Sci Fi Channel. Last week, MGM offered to raise its bid to $11.5 billion if it received more information, but Vivendi rejected that amount as still too low.

Sources said MGM planned to continue as a suitor rather than pull out of the bidding as it has threatened to do if it did not get the additional financial and contractual information, adding that the two sides are engaged in a “constructive dialogue.”