STX Places Rights to Chris Pine Thriller ‘The Contractor’ in Bankruptcy As Studio Sale Proceeds
Film studio STX Entertainment has put an indirect subsidiary company holding the rights to the Chris Pine and Ben Foster-starring thriller The Contractor into chapter 11 bankruptcy.
The move, detailed in an SEC filing from Eros Global Corp., parent of STX, aims to protect the value of the action thriller for the company’s shareholders as Eros moves ahead on a deal to sell the indie studio built and led by Robert Simonds to an affiliate of the Najafi Companies. Unveiled on Tuesday, the SEC filing indicates that a Dec. 6, 2021 agreement for the sale of STX was amended on March 15.
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The Najafi Companies will now acquire 85 percent of the equity interests and 100 percent of the voting interests of STX, while Eros STX Global Corp. agrees to retain 15 percent of the non-voting shares in the indie studio. “We anticipate the purchase price and the amount of outstanding debt at closing to be approximately $157 million,” Eros said in the SEC filing.
The deal for STX Entertainment calls for the indie studio to repay $148 million in debt, and follows STX Entertainment and Eros completing a stock-for-stock merger to form Eros STX Global Corp. in 2020. The Najafi Companies is a private investment company with holdings in consumer, media, talent-driven brands, e-commerce, tech and sports.
Najafi has partnered with The Forest Road Company as its lender to repay STX Entertainment’s outstanding debt load and provide working capital going forward.
