Heatherden Securities and Manchester Library, two subsidiaries of juggernaut Elliot Management, are once again objecting to the speed of bankrupt Relativity Media’s planned sale at auction.
While previous objections to the rapid sale were resolved in August, a Wednesday filing in U.S. Bankruptcy Court said Heatherden still believes the film and TV assets in the studio’s portfolio are worth more than what’s on the table. Relativity currently has a stalking-horse bid of $250 million from a group of senior lenders.
Manchester, meanwhile, wants time to resolve “complex underlying distribution arrangements” it has with Relativity for films it owns which the studio was contracted to distribute.
“Heatherden opposes selling substantially all of the Debtors’ assets in such a rapid process because it is not at all clear that it will maximize the Debtors’ value,” documents said.
The deadline for competing bids to the senior lenders is September 24. The sale is expected to close by October 20.
“While Heatherden has an open mind and the outcome of the auction process is not yet entirely predetermined, Heatherden continues to believe that the Debtors’ business has substantially greater value than is likely to be achieved through the proposed sale,” the filing said.
While the filings do not list which films Manchester owns, the company requested protection of its right for the projects in question, no matter who winds up purchasing Ryan Kavanaugh‘s 11-year-old studio.
“If those underlying agreements are assumed and assigned as part of the sale, the parties will need appropriate arrangements to protect the rights of Library,” the papers said.
On Tuesday, TheWrap reported that there are seven completed films in a state of limbo until the Relativity bankruptcy is resolved, including Nicholas Hoult thriller “Collide,” the Rooney Mara–Theo James drama “The Secret Scripture” and Nikolaj Coster-Waldau gangster flick “Shot Caller.”