Alcon Media Group LLC has successfully completed its acquisition of Village Roadshow Entertainment Group’s extensive library, securing the deal for $417.5 million, the company announced on Wednesday.
This acquisition encompasses 108 feature film titles and includes all associated intellectual properties, distribution rights, and cash flows. Notable films in the library, co-produced and co-financed alongside Warner Bros since 1997, include major titles such as Mad Max: Fury Road, the Ocean’s Eleven series, The Matrix trilogy, Joker, Ready Player One, and the Sherlock Holmes franchise. Collectively, these films generate an estimated $50 million in annual revenue.
Specifically, Alcon has acquired the participations and naked copyrights in the Warner Bros films co-financed by Village Roadshow; however, other rights—including distribution rights held by Warner Bros and the ability to co-finance derivative works—were excluded from this auction.
In addition to the film library, Village Roadshow’s assets comprise a development slate of both films and scripted as well as unscripted television series.
Village Roadshow filed for bankruptcy protection in March, prompting several entities to submit bids for its assets. Alcon stepped in as a “stalking horse” bidder shortly after the filing, moving forward with the acquisition once it received the green light from the U.S. Bankruptcy Court for the District of Delaware. During its final days, Village Roadshow struggled with late payments to writers, drawing criticism from the WGA West. The cash flow issues stemmed from problems faced by Vine Alternative Investments, the company’s majority stakeholder, leading to the departure of Village Roadshow CEO Steve Mosko.
Co-CEOs of Alcon Media Group, Broderick Johnson and Andrew Kosove, expressed their satisfaction with the acquisition, stating, “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.” Alcon’s own film library includes acclaimed titles like Blade Runner 2049, Oscar winner The Blind Side, Christopher Nolan’s Insomnia, Denis Villeneuve’s Prisoners, and the recently rebooted Garfield franchise featuring Chris Pratt.
The transaction was negotiated for Alcon by Scott Parish, COO, and Jason Kummer, CFO. Alcon Media Group received legal representation from Loeb & Loeb LLP, while Village Roadshow was represented by Sheppard Mullin Richter & Hampton LLP and Young Conaway Stargatt & Taylor LLP.