Embattled film production studio The Weinstein Co. has reached a deal with creditors to move forward with its previously announced sale to Lantern Capital Partners.
The compromise comes just days ahead of a scheduled hearing on the matter. The company's unsecured creditors said they were getting shortchanged under modifications to the original sale agreement.
In May, Dallas private equity firm Lantern Capital Partners emerged as the winning bidder for The Weinstein Co., with an agreed upon sale price of $310 million. But following a series of disputes the cash-strapped studio was forced to drop the price by $23 million, to $287 million, drawing strong opposition from the unsecured creditors committee.
Under the new deal, which was announced Friday, the sale price will be increased by $2 million, to $289 million, with some professionals agreeing to wave $1 million in fees, according to Variety.
Robert Del Genio, a senior managing director at FTI Consulting and The Weinstein Co.'s chief restructuring officer, said in statement: “We are delighted that today’s agreement clears the path for this sale to close,” Robert Del Genio, the company’s chief restructuring officer, said in a statement. “Lantern represents the highest and best value to creditors after the competitive bidding process. We thank Lantern and the UCC for their constructive approach to achieving deal certainty.”
The Weinstein Company (TWC), a multimedia production and distribution company launched in October 2005 by Bob and Harvey Weinstein, the brothers who founded Miramax Films in 1979, came under intense media scrutiny last year when Harvey Weinstein was accused of engaging in a pattern of sexually inappropriate behavior with the studios female cast members. The firm filed for bankruptcy in March.