Movie Studio That Made ‘Taken’ Seeks U.S. Bankruptcy
EuropaCorp signed a creditor protection procedure last week in France that gives it six months to restructure its debt.
(Bloomberg) -- EuropaCorp SA, the French movie studio founded by director Luc Besson, filed for bankruptcy protection in the U.S. after releasing a string of recent flops and botching a change in how it distributes films.
Losses stemming from the decision to handle its own U.S. distribution and the poor performance of movies like “The Circle,” “Their Finest” and “Valerian and the City of a Thousand Planets” led to the studio’s downfall, according to papers filed May 17 in Manhattan federal court.
EuropaCorp signed a creditor protection procedure last week in France that gives it six months to restructure its debt while continuing operations. The studio had outstanding debt of 86.9 million euros (about $97 million) under its first-lien credit agreement and 94.6 million euros under its second-lien credit agreement, according to a declaration filed by company consultant Kevin Tatum McDonald.
The company has posted losses for two and a half years, with results hurt by an ill-fated 2014 decision to distribute its films in the U.S. internally through EC Films rather than through major U.S. studios and independent distributors, according to court papers.
Management has tried to raise funds by subleasing portions of its headquarters north of Paris, which it’s entitled to do as of 2024. But those efforts have been stymied because the area has been selected as the center of the next Olympic Village for the 2024 Paris Olympics, the declaration states.
Besson is an iconic French director, screenwriter and producer who founded EuropaCorp in 1992, with film credits that include “The Fifth Element” and “The Professional.” EuropaCorp was considered one of the few successful European movie studios thanks to the profitable “Taken” and “Transporter” movies, according to The Hollywood Reporter.
Shares of the company, once sold for more than 14 euros in 2007. They’re now trading at less than 75 cents.
EuropaCorp affiliates that also filed for U.S. bankruptcy protection include EuropaCorp Home Entertainment SAS, EuropaCorp Television SAS and Valerian SAS.
The case is EuropaCorp S.A., 19-11587-mew, U.S. Bankruptcy Court in the Southern District of New York in Manhattan.
To contact the reporter on this story: Josh Saul in New York at jsaul15@bloomberg.net
To contact the editors responsible for this story: Rick Green at rgreen18@bloomberg.net, Dawn McCarty
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