Judge OKs MGM Bankruptcy Plan

Eighteen months of uncertainty are over for MGM after a federal judge in New York approved a prepackaged bankruptcy plan that will allow the studio to relaunch under Spyglass Entertainment founders Gary Barber and Roger Birnbaum. The company entered Chapter 11 bankruptcy over a month ago, but creditors finally agreed to a deal that will wipe out MGM's $5 billion in debt. The studio's massive restructuring began in May 2009, when MGM brought on a new high-profile CEO to try to turn things around and hired the investment bank Moelis & Co. to fix the company's finances. MGM is now waiting on JPMorgan Chase to close a $500 million loan facility that will allow it to emerge from bankruptcy; it plans to be fully funded by mid-December.