Indomina Media International, Inc. and Comerica Bank announced the closing of a $26 million revolving production loan. The loan will finance Indomina's upcoming slate of motion pictures, filmed mostly at Pinewood Indomina Studios in the Dominican Republic. This state-of-the-art facility is managed by the Pinewood Group (UK) and is home to a 60,500 square foot Horizon water tank—the largest and newest operational tank of its kind in the world, complete with blue screen capabilities and fully equipped diving and marine department.
Indomina will combine the Comerica loan with soft money solutions, mostly represented by the 25% Dominican transferable tax credit production incentive on above- and below-the-line costs to finance two to three English-language motion pictures per year.
Antonio Gennari, CEO of Indomina, said "The closing of the Comerica deal represents a bold step forward in the consolidation of our fiscally conservative, yet innovative business model, which aims to the development a consistent flow of investment in high production value and commercially appealing pictures, whilst leveraging the superior quality of our world-class facilities and production capabilities in the Dominican Republic. We are extremely pleased and excited that Comerica, the leading bank in independent film finance, is enthusiastically supporting our efforts."
Comerica's loan comes on the heels of another major endorsement of Indomina by the international banking community. In April, 2013, the International Finance Corporation, a member of the World Bank Group, announced a $20 million direct investment in Indomina and an additional $10 million loan syndication.
Jeff Colvin, Senior Vice President of Comerica, said, "We've been impressed with the new leadership at Indomina and its renewed focus on long-term fiscal viability. As the global market for high-quality genre films continues to grow, we are happy to support Indomina's position in this space."
The Comerica Entertainment Group team, which includes Colvin as well as Curtis Tamkin and Scott Scrimager, structured the loan; Isaac Palmer of Qualia Legacy Advisors acted as Indomina's exclusive financial advisor, and Robert J. Sherman of ReedSmith served as Indomina's exclusive legal counsel.
The Indomina Group is a holding company that invests in an array of media & entertainment related assets. With headquarters in Santo Domingo and offices in Los Angeles, Indomina's global operations include the development, production and financing of motion pictures and television content.
Indomina also owns Pinewood Indomina Studios, a world-class film/TV studios with unique water filming facilities located in the Dominican Republic, which is operated by Pinewood studios Group. In addition, Pinewood Indomina Studios offers turnkey production services and hosts an innovative media park that shall accommodate, foster and consolidate a competitive film industry cluster, comprised by independent businesses capable of providing complementary world-class services to producers filming their content in the country.
Comerica Incorporated is a financial services company headquartered in Dallas, Texas, and strategically aligned by three business segments: The Business Bank, The Retail Bank, and Wealth Management.