Sale of MGM Film Studio Is Complete

A consortium led by Japan’s Sony Corp. formally completed its acquisition Friday of Hollywood film studio Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Inc.

MGM was owned by billionaire Kirk Kerkorian, who bought the studio in 1996 from French bank Credit Lyonnais.

The group is paying about $4.9 billion, which includes cash and assumed debt.

Under the deal announced in September, Sony Pictures Entertainment will distribute MGM’s film and TV library.

Century City-based MGM also may co-finance and co-produce films with Sony. Another partner, cable giant Comcast Corp., is expected to use MGM content for video-on-demand services and for new channels.

In addition to Sony and Comcast, other investors include Providence Equity Partners, Texas Pacific Group and DLJ Merchant Banking Partners.

Heading the newly private MGM will be Dan Taylor, who was MGM’s chief financial officer.

MGM Chief Executive Alex Yemenidjian and Vice Chairman Chris McGurk are leaving with the completion of the sale.

On Friday, MGM anointed five other top executives, including Charles Cohen, who will serve as executive vice president for the company.

Other executive vice presidents include Jim Packer for television production, Blake Thomas for home entertainment, Bruce Tuchman for MGM Networks and Travis Rutherford for consumer products.

The deal effectively ends MGM’s status as a stand-alone film studio after 80 years.

Once one of Hollywood’s top-tier film factories, MGM has operated over the last two decades as a scaled-down version of its former self.

In recent years, the company seized on the DVD boom, becoming one of the industry’s top distributors of DVDs.