French Owner Puts Mgm Up For Sale

Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Inc. was formally put up for auction Tuesday, with bids expected from around the world for the newly resuscitated entertainment company that boasts the current box office leader.

MGM’s French owners hired the investment banker Lazard Freres & Co. in November to study a sale. Published lists of potential bidders include Chargeurs SA of France, Polygram NV of the Netherlands, Germany’s Bertelsmann AG, ABC parent Walt Disney Co., NBC parent General Electric Co. and movie producer New Regency.

Frank Mancuso, a onetime Paramount Pictures studio chief who transformed MGM from a dormant shell to a box office contender over the past three years, also has an option in his contract to put together a bid.

“Given the recent success of films like ‘The Birdcage’ and ‘Get Shorty,’ as well as James Bond, it’s really a testimony to Frank Mancuso revitalizing what had been a severely damaged franchise,” said analyst Christopher P. Dixon at PaineWebber.

“MGM today is stronger, more vibrant and more successful than in decades,” Mancuso said in a statement. “We look forward to writing the next chapter in an already remarkable history.”