7th March 2018: The Deal To Buy The Weinstein Company Just Fell Through After At Least £36 Million Of Debt Was Unearthed
It has been announced that the female-led investment group set to purchase the almost bankrupt Weinstein company have pulled out of the deal.
After announcing last week that a group of mainly female investors were going to buy the disgraced company, leading investor Maria Conteras-Sweet has revealed they will no longer be taking hold of the company.
This is said to be due to a further $50-60million (£36-46m) debt and other liabilities which were unearthed as they went over the books.
'All of us have worked in earnest on the transaction to purchase the assets of the Weinstein Company,' said Contreras-Sweet in a statement. 'However, after signing and entering into the confirmatory diligence phase, we have received disappointing information about the viability of completing this transaction. As a result, we have decided to terminate this transaction.'
This could herald bankruptcy for the company and its 150 employees.
4th March 2018: A Group Of Women Just Bought The Weinstein Company And The Internet Is Rejoicing
On Thursday, The Weinstein Company was sold to a group of mostly female investors.
The company - which has been in economic free fall since sexual assault and misconduct accusations towards its co-founder Harvey Weinstein came to light - was apparently finally purchased for around £362 million.
Deadline reports that the group of investors is lead by former Obama aide Maria Conteras-Sweet.
Conteras-Sweet was the head of the U.S. Small Business Administration under Barack Obama's presidency and is said to now be running the board of directors at The Weinstein Company.
The business woman is moving the company foward with the reported transgressions of its former co-founder in mind.
She released an statement detailing her future plans. She explained the the company will be changing its name and will have 'a vision that embodies the principles that we have stood by since we began this process last fall.'
She details:
'Those principles have never wavered and have always been to build a movie studio led by a board of directors made up of a majority of independent women, save about 150 jobs, protect the small businesses who are owed money and create a victims' compensation fund that would supplement existing insurance coverage for those who have been harmed. The cornerstone of our plan has been to launch a new company that represents the best practices in corporate governance and transparency…. I have had a long-standing commitment to fostering women ownership in business. This potential deal is an important step to that end.'
Many people on Twitter and, in fact, all over the Internet, have expressed their joy at not only the company being led by women, but at their plan for the company to actively support women, with a victim compensation fund.
Hopefully the movies they produce will be as feminist and kick-ass as the women who produce them.
Daisy Murray is the Digital Fashion Editor at ELLE UK, spotlighting emerging designers, sustainable shopping, and celebrity style. Since joining in 2016 as an editorial intern, Daisy has run the gamut of fashion journalism - interviewing Molly Goddard backstage at London Fashion Week, investigating the power of androgynous dressing and celebrating the joys of vintage shopping.
