(Bloomberg) – At Warner Bros Discovery Inc.
Rural Roadshow Entertainment Group seeks bankruptcy protection in Delaware on Monday, with $223.8 million in asset-backed secured notes and $163.1 million in senior secured debt, according to court documents.
Based in the U.S. and Australia, the company has been struggling to rebound from the pandemic downturn and the 2023 strike by Hollywood writers, which delayed film production. However, its liquidity problems stem primarily from ongoing arbitration with long-term partner Warner.
In 2022, Village Roadshow Entertainment released an arbitration for Matrix Resurrections, the latest chapter in the film series on HBO Max Streaming Platform, which allegedly deprived the company of theater revenue. The company also accused Warner of “depriving it of its shared ownership and joint funding rights” and a new chapter of the film first produced in the document.
Village Roadshow said the potential arbitration award “could make the company’s balance sheet flatter” and that its main relationship with Warner “cannot be compensated” even if the lawsuit is resolved.
Founded in 1997, the company has produced and released more than 100 films, including the movies Joker, The Great Gatsby and The Lego. Since 2017, owned by Falcon Strategic Partners and Vine Media Opportunity, Country Roadshow Entertainment has appointed Keith Maib, senior managing director of Acaction Partners, as Chief Restructuring Officer in January.
The company has creditor agreements with existing creditors to facilitate the sale of its assets through bankruptcy. CP Ventura LLC is a so-called stalking horse bidder with its library assets.
The case is a rural roadshow entertainment group US company in the Delaware Bankruptcy Court 25-10475.
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