Broadway producer Howard Kagan isn’t giving up on his bid to buy The Weinstein Co. and its assets.
On Wednesday, Kagan increased his bid to $325 million after his company, Inclusion Media, submitted a bid on Tuesday that missed the Delaware bankruptcy court’s 5 p.m. Monday deadline.
His initial bid was below Lantern Capital’s $310 million bid.
Kagan’s new offer includes a $15 million breakup fee for Lantern Capital and a provision to give 5 percent of the equity in the new company to Harvey Weinstein’s accusers. After taking those into account, Inclusion Media’s bid matches Lantern’s.
The Weinstein Co. said in a statement on Tuesday announcing Lantern Capital as the winning bidder that Kagan’s previous bid was not a bona fide offer and that it “contemplated substantially less value to the estate.”
In the statement, TWC said Kagan and Inclusion Media did not include a purchase agreement, a financing commitment, a deposit, or a number of other requirements for a qualified bid.
Kagan told TheWrap that TWC issued that statement after he spoke to them and explained that he was willing to meet all of their requirements if he got additional information in order to do his due diligence in the bidding process.
Representatives for TWC did not immediately respond to requests for comment.
“I find it strange that I’m being criticized for not putting all the bells and whistles in my offer, when I didn’t have all the information I needed to make a bid,” Kagan told TheWrap. “Especially when no one else bid.”
Kagan said he’s been in contact with TWC and that they are now working with him and his company to make sure they have the information they need to confidently bid. According to Kagan, TWC needs a push from its creditors to revisit his bid.
“The creditors committee came back very strong saying the company had no right to ignore our bid. I was included on the email,” Kagan told TheWrap. “They said they expect the company to reengage our bid right away and provide us with the necessary information.”