By Roger Friedman

First of all, Michael Jackson has evidently found someone to buy his $300 million main loan from Fortress Investments.

The dubious winner of this prize is said to be HSBC, the same bank that recently wrote down $3.4 billion in losses on bad credit and closed several hundred branches.

Details are sketchy, but the international bank — with Sony’s help — is nevertheless taking on the debt. The refinancing should kick out about $20-$25 million in cash for the liquidity-free singer.

But it’s not all a golden story. Jackson still owes Fortress $23 million for the loan secured by his Neverland Ranch. The default notice issued Oct. 12, 2007, had a 90-day moratorium, which means time is running out. The deadline before foreclosure would run somewhere between Jan. 12 and 19.

And guess what? Jackson, my sources say, will not use that new cash to pay the Neverland debt.

“It’s all the money he has,” one source says. “And you know how fast he can run through that.”

More than likely he won’t pay off the $4 million mortgage he’s got on his parents’ home in Encino, either.

But Jackson may have a way to make money. As I told you last week exclusively, AEG Live has been talking to Jackson about doing a tour. Now I hear that the proposal is to do a series of shows just at the O2 Arena outside of London, the same venue where Led Zeppelin just played.

The shows would run from March through April, all at O2. They’d be stripped down, and not big productions. Fans would be expected to travel to Jackson rather than make him go around the world.

They’d also be pricey for fans, because Jackson would by then need some big, big bucks to fill his emptying coffers. But it might be worth it: the word is that the basis of the show would be, soup to nuts, a 25th anniversary re-creation of “Thriller” to go along with the soon-to-be-released Sony CD and video package.

AEG’s Randy Phillips, who used to co-manage Rod Stewart, is behind the plan. Sources say he and Jackson have met several times, and that Michael “is in good shape.”

But insurance is still an obstacle, and so is Jackson’s mental health. Whether he would actually be able to fulfill such a contract remains to be seen.

“This is just in the talking stages and you never know what will happen,” says a source.

Source: FOX News

Category: General News, Rumours