Alcon Media Group LLC has won its $417.5 million bid to acquire Village Roadshow Entertainment Group’s library of 108 feature film titles, it was announced by Broderick Johnson and Andrew Kosove, co-CEOs of AMG and its production and financing group Alcon Entertainment.
The deal includes Village Roadshow’s entire library of intellectual properties, distribution rights and cash flows. Village Roadshow’s library includes rights and royalties to the motion pictures that the company co-produced and co-financed in association with Warner Brothers Pictures since 1997, including tentpoles “Mad Max: Fury Road,” the “Ocean’s Eleven” series, “The Matrix” trilogy, “Joker,” “Ready Player One,” 2009’s “Sherlock Holmes,” “Wonka,” and many other notable titles that collectively generate an estimated $50 million annually.
Village Roadshow’s assets also include a development slate of films and scripted and unscripted television series.
The acquisition positions Alcon as the copyright holder of one of the largest independent feature film libraries in the world. In addition to the newly acquired VR titles, the library also includes notable Alcon titles including “Blade Runner 2049,” “The Blind Side,” Christopher Nolan’s “Insomnia,” Denis Villeneuve’s “Prisoners,” and the recently rebooted “Garfield” franchise voiced by Chris Pratt, as the copyright holder of the largest independent feature film library in the country.
Village Roadshow filed for bankruptcy protection in March of this year. Several entities responded with bids to acquire its assets. Alcon entered as a ‘stalking horse’ bidder soon after the filing and successfully pursued the acquisition when the deal was approved by the US Bankruptcy Court for the District of Delaware on June 18.
Stated Kosove and Johnson: “We are pleased to acquire Village Roadshow’s library of major studio distributed feature films, which are accretive to Alcon’s existing film library. We intend to continue to be opportunistic in the future as other attractive assets become available in the marketplace.”
The deal was negotiated on behalf of Alcon by the Company’s COO Scott Parish and CFO Jason Kummer.
Alcon Media Group is represented by Scott Edell, Brandon Cherry, and Vadim Rubinstein of Loeb & Loeb LLP.
Village Roadshow is represented by Justin R. Bernbrock, Matthew T. Benz, Jennifer L. Nassiri and Alyssa Paddock of Sheppard Mullin Richter & Hampton LLP and Joseph M. Mulvihill, Carol E. Thompson and Benjamin C. Carver of Young Conaway Stargatt & Taylor LLP.
