Aug 19 (IBNS) MGM underwent a major shake-up with the exit of chief-executive Harry Sloan and Hollywood is skeptical about the revival of Leo the Lion.

Variety.com reported that the office of CEO will now be divided between three executives, with the key restructuring role going to Stephen Cooper.

Cooper is known as a corporate turnaround specialist and is famous for dismantling Enron after its collapse and for salvaging Krispy Kreme after its bankruptcy. He confronts a $3.7 billion debt load at the Lion, with major payments coming due next year.

So can the man who restructured Krispy Kreme and Enron save MGM?

The initial reaction of key Hollywood players to Tuesday’s management shakeup at MGM was one of skepticism.

“Now it’s really going to get ugly,” said one banker, who worries that the new MGM team may find itself “at war” with debt holders.

“MGM doesn’t need a new CEO — it needs someone to write a check for a couple of billion dollars,” said the CEO of a rival company.

“It’s up in the air what can truly be salvaged in the way of assets,” another corporate CEO declared. “This will be an epic task at debt restructuring, if it can be accomplished at all.”

The exit of Sloan (he stays on with the title of chairman) was inevitable. He joined MGM in 2005 with the dream of restoring the company to its glory days. Sloan had become a billionaire as a result of his savvy investments in TV in Europe’s fast-expanding media market in the 1980s and ’90s, but he had never cracked the big time in Hollywood.

Sloan had invested in New World Entertainment and Lionsgate before becoming chairman of SBS Broadcasting, a company he sold for about $2.6 billion four years ago.