Relativity’s Emergence From Bankruptcy Approved by Judge

Company to return to normal operations after more than seven months of court protection

Relativity Media
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A bankruptcy court judge approved Relativity’s emergence from bankruptcy on Friday.

The company’s CEO Ryan Kavanaugh was not present in court as the judge announced his decision.

“I think everybody realizes that the emerged company will be highly leveraged and that forecasting the results of films is an inherently iffy proposition. And that there’s still some more work to be done on putting some more financing into place in terms of equity and the ultimates facility,” said Judge Michael Wiles. “But on the record that I have in front of me, I am prepared to make the confirmatory finding. And I cannot compliment everybody enough on the unbelievable hard work that has gone into getting the plan confirmed.”

In February, Wiles approved Relativity Media’s reorganization plan, and on Wednesday secured $400 million in new equity financing for its film slate from Los Angeles-based Maple Leaf Films.

Maple Leaf is headed by Tove Christensen and Michael Wexler, a division of Maple Leaf Capital Group that principally handles real estate and hedge funds. The investment will contribute 75 percent of funds for Relativity films chosen by the company’s new creative leader Dana Brunetti over the next five years, according to the studio.

The considerable figure comes on the heels of another $75 million in financing, all of it in the form of loans, revealed by documents filed in bankruptcy court last Saturday.
However, actor-director-producer Kevin Spacey backed away from a previously announced plan to join the studio as as chairman, leaving Bruentti to pilot CEO Ryan Kavanaugh‘s ship solo.

More to come…

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