Hedge fund Pacificor has won the rights to the Terminator series following a heated bidding war.
Deadline Hollywood had this to say on the auction:
But the studios didn't come away the winners -- which, I'm told, prompted a furious Sony Pictures Entertainment's president of worldwide affairs Peter Schlessel to "storm out" of the Downtown LA offices of FTI Capital Advisors which was holding the auction. Instead, Halcyon Holding Corp accepted the $29.5 million bid from, of all parties, the debtholder which pushed it into bankruptcy, Santa Barbara-based hedge fund Pacificor. (This is the same Pacificor whom Halcyon accused in a lawsuit of extortion, bribery, and fraud and demanded $30M in damages.)
Tonight, Sony and Lionsgate dropped out at just under $29.5 million when it became clear that Pacificor "was willing to pay almost any amount of money for Terminator," an insider tells me. Halcyon will receive $5 million for every Terminator movie made from now on, as well as keeps the revenue streams from the movies Terminator 3 and 4. An arrangement also was made that the sale now wipes out the debt Halcyon owed Pacificor. The deal is subject to approval by the bankruptcy court. It will be presented to the judge at a hearing on Thursday. Back on May 9, 2007, rights to the Terminator series passed from producers Andy Vajna and Mario Kassar to the privately funded Halcyon Co (formed by entrepreneurs Victor Kubicek and Derek Anderson) for a reported $30 million.
UPDATE: Sony Pictures and Lionsgate are now in talks with Pacificor to jointly take control of the property, considering Pacificor has no experience in film production or distribution.
Hedge fund Pacificor has won the rights to the Terminator series following a heated bidding war. Deadline Hollywood had this to say on the auction:
