Entertainment Rights Share Discussion Threads

[typo56] 27/2/2009 08:38

Big buys? Largest trade so far is 1.25m shares @ 0.16p. That's only £2k worth.

[rochford6] 27/2/2009 08:36

Richard Wray guardian.co.uk, Friday 27 February 2009 07.11 GMT Article historyShareholders in Entertainment Rights, the owner of children's characters such as Postman Pat and Basil Brush, are going to be left empty handed because offers for the firm do not cover its debts.

None of the bidders are willing to buy Entertainment Rights as a going concern. Instead they are offering to buy out Entertainment Rights' assets and the holding company is likely to be put into receivership.

Shares in the company closed at 0.15p yesterday, valuing the business at a mere £1m. Two years ago it was worth more than £260m.

The company, which was last month fined £245,000 by the City watchdog for breaching rules on transparency, has been in takeover talks since last year.

But late yesterday the company admitted that the offers are "at a level which would be acceptable to the board and to the group's lender, but at which there is no prospect of recovering all of the outstanding debt", which stands at more than £130m.

"It is now clear that neither a sale nor the alternative of a bank supported restructuring solution would result in any value being attributed to the ordinary shares in Entertainment Rights," the company added.

The company said it is in "advanced negotiations" with several bidders who have "substantially completed their due diligence".

If a deal cannot be done, however, the bank's lender HBOS, which recently hired restructuring experts Deloitte to advise on the Entertainment Rights sale, will step in and restructure the business – possibly through some form of debt for equity swap – which will leave shareholders with nothing.

Bidders are rumoured to include existing shareholder Spectrum Equity, which is working with Eric Ellenbogen, who co-founded Classic Media. It was the acquisition of that business, which owns Lassie and The Lone Ranger, for £107m in 2007 that helped create the massive debt pile which has now brought Entertainment Rights to its knees.

Other rumoured bidders include private equity house Apax, which already owns rival children's character group Hit Entertainment, and the investment vehicle of Haim Saban, the man who brought Power Rangers to the Western world.

HBOS has agreed to support Entertainment Rights beyond the end of the month to complete a sale or restructuring solution.

[pre] 27/2/2009 08:25

some big buys going through.......ummmmm

[golfer52] 27/2/2009 07:16

they would not tell me who they represented but its not hard to work out.other big holders must have been called tnx in advance if you can confirm the call from APAX

[golfer52] 27/2/2009 06:47

YESTERDAY AT 3.30 I RECIEVED A CALL FROM APAX LOOKS LIKE THEY ARE BUYING IN THE MKT AND PHONING SHAREHOLDERS WITH LARGE AMOUNTS OF STOCK.EXPECTING BIG NEWS AND A BIG RISE THATS WHY ITS STILL TRADING OFFERS OF 5P WILL BE ACCEPTED.500 MILL BUSINESS WITH 130 MILL DEBT THATS HOW THE LENDERS ARE SUPPLYING SHORT TERM FUNDING.DID ANYONE ELSE GET THE SAME CALL.HOLDING 5.5 MILL ADDING 1ST THING.

[vision88] 26/2/2009 23:47

I wonder if the directors themselves are selling the entertainment rights of there behavior in this company

[toptrump] 26/2/2009 22:34

Remember guys any sale will need shareholder approval!

[powwow] 26/2/2009 15:18

I wonder what areas of the business are worth selling at what price?

Any ideas... shall we all chip in a buy a few bits.?

If one wanted to approach the company, asking whats for sale? etc what would the process be?

[hotips] 26/2/2009 12:59

DevBod - I agree with your understanding of the RNS. I wonder what fire-sale price they'll get for the library of rights and it will be interesting to see if it comes back onto the market in a couple of years at several times what was paid for it. My disgust is that the shareholders will get ZERO and the past directors get away with having driven this once worthwhile company into the ground. How they could justify paying the £250,000 fine from company funds when they'd with held information from shareholders beggers belief. If I were the bank i'd have made the directors pay from their own pockiets rather than rack up another £250,000 on the overdraft. Bransgrove, Heap, Hemmings, Gains and the pathetic non-execs have a lot to answer for. I honestly believe there is a case against them here.

[devbod] 26/2/2009 12:42

I read the RNS as

- everything of any value is being sold off
- the money goes to pay off bank debt
- shareholders will get *nothing*

Whatever is left of the parent entity when all is done will presumably either be sold (again to pay debt) or simply cease to exist.

[rochford6] 26/2/2009 12:33

If they sell off their subsidiaries as stated in the below section from the RNS then what will be left of ERT, will it be going back to the state it was before the purchase of classic media?


"The Board has received offers for the Company's subsidiaries or business and
assets and is in advanced negotiations with a number of bidders who have
substantially completed their due diligence in order to complete a transaction
imminently."

[devbod] 26/2/2009 12:26

That makes sense. Couldn't get my head around why anyone was buying this.

[typo56] 26/2/2009 11:29

I imagine that some people are buying in order to cover shorts, rather than hang around for months or years waiting to get positions closed out at zero.

[theuniversal] 26/2/2009 09:38

so if people are still holding onto these and if ert sell some assetsto reduce debt and still carries on trading, will it still survive a slow- medium recovery with the current management on board? share price down 0.05p then up 0.25p the next. very strange for a company supposedly going down the pan

[l0wrdr] 26/2/2009 09:13

and how many need to be dumped to see red???

[battyman2] 26/2/2009 09:10

Sorry that should read "predicted"

[battyman2] 26/2/2009 09:02

Chaps for goodness sake buy a few CGX (Chromogenex) - further huge rises prdicted over the next week. Only need to buy a few to see blue!!

[hotips] 26/2/2009 08:57

This looks to me like a case of MISFEASANCE. I for one intend to take a very close look at it.

[theuniversal] 26/2/2009 08:57

sorry to hear about the news, but why is there still people buying today?

[hotips] 26/2/2009 08:54

I'm just wondering.......when exactly the directors knew that any offer would not be for the shares? There seems to have been some good trading progress of late, which would give share holders hope, but now it seems they were only trying to bump up the business prior to a sale - but as we now know, a sale which will be of no benefit to the shareholders.

Needless to say I am pretty depressed at today's announcement. Depressed and very angry. Bransgrove, Heap and Hemmings HAVE A LOT TO ANSWER FOR.

Thinking about it.....this company effectively went bust months ago. Really, the banks representatives have been in here trying to sort out the debt by getting the rights sold as a whole, thus partly clearing their position. The Board must have known some time ago that any sale would not benefit the shareholders and that this was never really an option. So why were we not kept informed?

Should they have informed shareholders earlier of this? Yes...........

Just like they didn't think to mention the downturn in the US video sales for which the comapny was subsequently punished for, (£250,000 fine by the FSA). The directors chose to cover this up and they should be held entirely responsible.

These people have lined their pockets at shareholders expense for YEARS AND YEARS, and it is time they were made to pay for their utter mismanagement and greed.

[rochford6] 26/2/2009 07:58

Last one out please turn out the lights :(

[rochford6] 24/2/2009 20:44

Posted : Tue, 24 Feb 2009 20:02:45 GMT
Author : Ludia Inc.
Category : Press Release
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MONTREAL & NEW YORK - (Business Wire) Interactive entertainment company Ludia Inc. and Entertainment Rights jointly announced today that Ludia will create video games based on publishing phenomenon and ultimate world traveler, Where's Waldo?®. Through the exclusive multi-year deal, the pop culture icon will leap from the pages of his best-selling books to engaging new games for consoles, PC/Mac, iPhone and iPod touch-for the first time ever. The first in the game series, "Where's Waldo?: The Fantastic Journey" is slated to launch across several major platforms later this year.

"Waldo is one of the most recognizable characters in the world, and his adventurous spirit and cross-generational appeal is exactly what will be invoked in this family game series," said Alex Thabet, Founder and CEO of Ludia Inc. "This deal broadens the Ludia portfolio and is in line with our successful strategy of taking immensely popular brands, translating them into rich interactive entertainment experiences for the whole family, then making them widely available on the platforms of their choice."

Where's Waldo? video games will feature all of the treasured scenes and characters from the classic books, brought to life in a unique hidden-object adventure that is intrinsic to the brand. Now, families can JOIN THE SEARCH! with up to four players in several different themed environments, competitive or cooperative game modes, as well as jaw-dropping power-ups and rich rewards systems.

"Our partnership with Ludia marks the next phase of Waldo's 21st birthday celebration. We are pleased to be working with Ludia to deliver innovative and highly engaging games that will bring the search-and-find experience to life in a spectacular new way," added Laura Turner Laing, VP, Global Digital Media & Music, Entertainment Rights Plc, which holds the worldwide rights to Where's Waldo?. "The game will play a key role in the 2009 brand strategy for Waldo, and we are excited to send him on his newest journey."

[hotips] 23/2/2009 09:36

So presumably we should hear something this Friday or next Monday at the latest.