In todays Hollywood Reporter there is an article talking about Disney finally letting go of something they should never have bought. What was Miramax Films film library. I guess the feeling in 1993 at the Mouse House was to round out their film library not only with top notch animation but Academy Award winners and contenders? Since the Weinstein Brothers left to start The Weinstein Company in 2005 Disney has been struggling to figure out what to do with the once independent giant. After letting 70% of Miramax's workforce go in October Disney made it official last month closing the doors in the NY and LA offices. Now they're selling off the Miramax library trying to pay for their latest acquisition. Marvel Entertainment Inc. Can the Weinstein Brothers pull together the cash to buy back the films they worked so hard to create? We'll see? Enjoy.
Miramax offers due Friday
More than a dozen expected for Disney's shuttered division
By Carl DiOrio
More than a dozen nonbinding offers are expected Friday in an informal auction Disney is conducting for its recently shuttered Miramax.
Contrary to some reports, Disney's $700 million price tag on Miramax, which comes with a 700-film library, might not prove a problem. But that will take a while to sort out, as first-round bidding is nonbinding and Disney has facilitated almost no due diligence by Miramax suitors.
One estimate put annual cash flow from the Miramax library at $150 million, meaning Disney would need to find a buyer willing to pay a multiple of four to five times cash flow. That's considered doable, though everything depends on bidders confirming the studio's cash flow claims when due diligence finally is allowed.
Disney is running the Miramax auction internally, with its finance execs fielding phone calls and holding occasional meetings with prospective suitors.
Minimajor Lionsgate is among those kicking tires on Miramax, and several majors also are expected to make expressions of interest. Summit Entertainment had been in the mix of suitors but pulled out at the eleventh hour prior to the bidding deadline.
Former Miramax co-toppers Harvey and Bob Weinstein also are interested in reclaiming rights to their once-mighty indie, which they founded in 1979 and named for their parents Miriam and Max Weinstein. But it's not clear how the recently cash-strapped brothers would fund a Miramax purchase.
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