Michael Jackson announced in April 2006 that he had completed a major debt refinancing arrangement, resolving obligations believed to run into the hundreds of millions of dollars.
Jackson's lawyers, speaking from Bahrain where the singer had taken up residence, confirmed that Fortress Investment Group, a New York firm specializing in distressed debt, now holds the secured loans previously owned by Bank of America. Citigroup structured the deal. Specific financial terms were not released.
According to the New York Times, Bank of America had held roughly 270 million dollars in loans backed in part by Jackson's stake in the Sony/ATV Music catalog, a collection that includes numerous Beatles songs and is valued at approximately one billion dollars. Sony Corporation of America co-owns that catalog with Jackson.
The refinancing comes after years of mounting financial pressure. The previous month, Jackson had effectively shuttered his large California ranch following a threatened lawsuit by state authorities over unpaid wages owed to ranch workers.
Historical summary. TurkishPress restated this wire report, first published in April 2006, in its own words.