MGM creditors “don’t want to do a deal with Lions Gate management,” citing steps the executives have taken “to entrench themselves,” Icahn said in an interview.

Icahn, who owns Lions Gate stock and MGM debt, is making a hostile $7.50-a-share takeover bid for Lions Gate, distributor of the “Saw” horror movies and Tyler Perry comedies. Icahn and Lions Gate management have said they favor a merger of the two studios. They differ over who should run the combined company.

“The merger of those companies makes a lot of sense,” Icahn said. “I don’t think a deal can get done until this company is cleaned up.”

Peter Wilkes, a spokesman for Lions Gate, said the company had no comment.

Icahn has proposed five nominees to the board of Vancouver- based Lions Gate, including former MGM executive Chris McGurk. The studio, run from Santa Monica, California, holds its shareholder meeting on Dec. 14.

Lions Gate fell 11 cents to $7.25 Monday at 4 p.m. in New York Stock Exchange composite trading. The stock has gained 25 percent this year.