The highest bid for The Weinstein Company is reportedly $500 million, which means shareholders may lose all their equity on the deal.
- The Weinstein Company could reportedly be sold for $500 million.
- The small figure is in the wake of the scandal surrounding its cofounder, Harvey Weinstein, who was fired after sexual misconduct allegations were revealed last year.
- Six companies are reportedly in the running.
Following a December 22 deadline, The Weinstein Company is currently in the process of being sold and has narrowed down the potential buyers to six companies, according to The Wall Street Journal.
However, in the wake of the colossal controversy surrounding the company following the sexual assault and harassment allegations against its cofounder Harvey Weinstein, who was fired in October, whichever company takes TWC will be getting it for a bargain price.
The Wall Street Journal reports that the company could go for less than $500 million and its shareholders may lose all of their equity.
TWC received about 20 offers and its board of directors has narrowed down the list to six potential buyers, which includes Lionsgate and production company Killer Content, which is working with filmmaker/philanthropist Abigail Disney, according to The Wall Street Journal.
The top bid of $500 million is an underwhelming figure for the company that Harvey and brother Bob Weinstein launched in 2005 after leaving the previous company they founded, Miramax, which became a mega power in the independent film world in the 1990s.
With the company reportedly carrying $500 million-plus in debt, the only thing that’s attractive is its library (which includes Quentin Tarantino movies “Django Unchained,” “Inglourious Basterds,” and “The Hateful Eight”), but it’s clearly not as lucrative as it once was.
“A company’s library of titles depreciates faster than they used to,” Hal Vogel, media analyst and founder of Vogel Capital Management told Business Insider. “With so much production on the streaming side now, older libraries don’t trade for so much.”
Then there’s also the legal bills against Harvey Weinstein and the company that the buyer will have to take on. Weinstein’s alleged sexual misconduct over three decades has led to lawsuits against TWC and Weinstein being the subject of criminal investigations.
“One of the companies will eventually win out, but money is only one consideration,” Vogel said. “You can expect that the litigation will come out for years to come. It’s going to be costly and it’s going to drag on.”
The Weinstein Company had no comment for this story.
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