The US billionaire actual property magnate Charles Cohen has misplaced management of his upmarket UK cinema chain after an escalating authorized battle over unpaid money owed.
Curzon, the historic arthouse chain that has 16 venues throughout the UK, has been snapped up by the US non-public fairness agency Fortress Funding Group.
Phrases of the deal weren’t disclosed, however Fortress reportedly provided $5m (£3.9m) for the cinema group.
Curzon, which is without doubt one of the oldest cinema chains in Britain, was put up for public sale earlier this 12 months after its earlier proprietor, Cohen Media Group, was ordered by a New York choose to dump a few of its belongings.
Fortress, which owns Majestic Wine and Poundstretcher, sued Mr Cohen’s enterprise empire after it defaulted on a $534m mortgage, with the tycoon additionally on the hook for greater than $187m in private ensures.
The Curzon public sale included the cinema group’s distribution arm, Synthetic Eye, in addition to its house streaming service.
Mr Cohen’s US cinema group, Landmark Theaters, has additionally been put up for public sale, whereas he has already misplaced management of an workplace tower in New York’s Midtown.
However the authorized dispute has escalated in latest weeks after Fortress accused Mr Cohen of attempting to defend his belongings from the court docket order.
In a submitting within the New York Supreme Court docket, Fortress alleged that Mr Cohen transferred $70m price of belongings to new homeowners. This included shifting a $20m mansion in Greenwich, New York, into his spouse’s title, and transferring possession of not less than 4 luxurious yachts price $50m.
Mr Cohen is interesting the choose’s ruling and for the $187m legal responsibility to be reversed in full. Cohen Media Group has been contacted for remark.
Mr Cohen purchased Curzon in 2019, a 12 months after shopping for Landmark Theaters within the US. The cinema chains had been used as collateral on the Fortress mortgage, alongside the Manhattan tower, a design centre and a Florida lodge.
The acquisitions got here shortly earlier than lockdown compelled widespread cinema closures and pushed the sector into disaster. Cinemas are additionally combating the shift to streaming, as attendance continues to fall in need of pre-Covid ranges.
Curzon was arrange in 1934 by Harold Wingate, who opened his first cinema in Mayfair. It turned identified for introducing audiences to worldwide cinema by importing and screening a few of the first international language movies within the UK.
Synthetic Eye, which was based in 1976, has been behind main hits together with 2019 South Korean blockbuster Parasite. Curzon was additionally forward of the curve on streaming, launching its house cinema streaming service in 2010.
In recent times, the chain has opened new cinemas in areas together with Hoxton, Camden, Kingston upon Thames and Canterbury.