Maria Contreras-Sweet's investor group has reached a deal to purchase assets of Weinstein Co., the former Obama administration official said Thursday.
"Our team is pleased to announce that we have taken an important step and have reached an agreement to purchase assets from The Weinstein Company in order to launch a new company, with a new board and a new vision that embodies the principles that we have stood by since we began this process last fall," Contreras-Sweet said in a statement.
The statement is the latest surprise development in Weinstein Co.'s protracted scramble to avoid filing for bankruptcy in the nearly five months since the New York company's co-founder Harvey Weinstein was accused of sexual harassment and assault.
Representatives for Weinstein Co. and the New York attorney general's office did not immediately respond to requests for comment.
The announcement comes less than a week after Weinstein Co.'s board of directors said that sale talks had fallen apart and that the company would prepare to file for bankruptcy in the "coming days."
The board blasted the potential buyers, saying they had refused to provide interim financing to keep the company afloat and would saddle the studio with liabilities. People familiar with the matter said chances were slim that talks could be revived.
Contreras-Sweet did not disclose financial details of the agreement. People familiar with the talks previously said the bid, backed by billionaire Ron Burkle, was worth $500 million, including $225 million in assumption of debt. The bidders were close to a deal last month, but negotiations came to a halt after the New York attorney general's office sharply criticized the sale.
After the Weinstein Co. board said talks were canceled, Burkle scrambled to put the pieces back together. The supermarket magnate met with the attorney general's office Thursday, joined by members of the Weinstein Co. board, to salvage the transaction, according to people familiar with the matter who were not authorized to comment.
