sony group has sweetened offer for mgm - ny post
Sony group has sweetened offer for MGM - NY Post September 10, 2004 4:38am ET (Reuters)
TOKYO, Sept 10 (Reuters) - Japanese electronics and entertainment conglomerate Sony Corp has slightly sweetened its bid for the Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Inc. film studio, the New York Post said in its online edition on Friday.
Sony is in talks to buy MGM for nearly $5 billion with partners Texas Pacific Group and Providence Equity Partners, but Time Warner Inc. is also in negotiations with MGM about buying the studio for a similar price.
The newspaper reported that Sony had submitted its sweetened bid to MGM on Thursday morning before a board meeting, hoping to swing the negotiations in its favour.
A Sony spokesman in Tokyo declined to comment on the report.
The newspaper did not provide details about the new offer, but quoted a source as saying the changes were made to make MGM feel more comfortable about the Sony-led group's ability "to fulfil its obligation" to buy the company.
Sources close to the talks have said Time Warner had the upper hand in the battle to buy MGM.
