Dallas Firm In $435M Deal To Buy Weinstein Company: Reports

DALLAS, TX — A Dallas-based private equity firm is nearing the final stages of purchasing the assets of the Weinstein Company, according to reports. Lantern Capital, which specializes in turning companies around, is expected to buy the assets after other expected bids never came.

The Monday deadline to offer bids for the company's assets didn't bring the expected bids. When Miramax, Lionsgate, MGM, Vine and Shamrock didn't bid, Hollywood Deadline reported, Lantern Capital was the only company left standing, with a bid of $435 million, according to Deadline..

"It looks like nobody showed up today," a source told Deadline. There was only one other bid — Sonar Entertainment's bid for the company's TV assets — that didn't come close to Lantern's bid. So, the scheduled May 4 auction for Weinstein's assets was cancelled.

Lantern Capital will obtain the 277-film collection, alongside films and TV shows in production like Project Runway. Reuters reported sources as saying the the company sold for $310 million. They also will obtain the 80 or so employees that work for the company.

The Weinstein Company wasn't exactly an attractive company after media mogul Harvey Weinstein was accused by over 70 women of decades of sexual harassment and assault, which came to light in October.

Though Lantern Capital won't be on the hook for paying the victims, Deadline reported, they may set up an insurance fund for the victims' payouts. New money from unfinished productions would supply the funds, and could contribute up to $30 million.

The deal is subject to approval by a U.S. bankruptcy judge, Reuters reported.

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