Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer plans to buy out Carl C. Icahn‘s entire stake in the film studio for about $590 million, as preparation to eventually go public, a person briefed on the matter said on Tuesday.
The move could help smooth the path for M.G.M. to join the stock markets by providing an exit for a notoriously outspoken investor. Mr. Icahn bought into the film studio's debt to try and force the company into a merger with Lions Gate Films, a campaign that failed.
M.G.M. instead struck agreements with a number of creditors that allowed the company to file for a prepackaged bankruptcy, which shortened its stay in Chapter 11 protection. Under the terms of that filing, the film studio's creditors essentially took control, making Mr. Icahn one of the company's biggest shareholders.
A spokeswoman for M.G.M. declined to comment.
The film studio said last week that it is planning to go public, acknowledging that it had made a confidential filing with the Secu rities and Exchange Commission. It has hired JPMorgan Chase and Goldman Sachs to lead the offering, according to people briefed on the appointments, though no timing for a stock sale has been set yet.
M.G.M. and its owners are hoping to capitalize on a resurgence in the strength of the studio's offerings later this year, principally the new James Bond movie, “Skyfall,†and the first of two movies based on J. R. R. Tolkien‘s “The Hobbit.â€
News of the plans to buy out Mr. Icahn's stake were reported earlier by The Wall Street Journal online.
