The planned sale of the Weinstein Company collapsed again yesterday, when the investor group that had agreed to purchase the embattled studio said that it had called off the deal after receiving “disappointing information,” the New York Times reported. The investor group, led by Maria Contreras-Sweet, who ran the Small Business Administration under President Barack Obama, and the Weinstein Company’s board announced last week that an agreement to buy most of the assets of the near-bankrupt studio had finally been reached. The deal called for the group to pay off the Weinstein Company’s debt, which it believed totaled around $225 million. In return, the group would receive the majority of the studio’s assets, which include “Project Runway” and a 277-film library. But once the buyers began looking deeper into the Weinstein Company’s finances, they discovered that it had more debt than they had been led to believe. Additional liabilities totaling between $55 million and $65 million were discovered, including $27 million in unpaid residuals and profit participation; and $20 million in accounts payable. Read more.
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