Besson to Lose Grip on Movie Studio as Creditor to Take Control

(Bloomberg) -- EuropaCorp SA, the French movie studio founded by director Luc Besson, will probably soon be controlled by New-York based Vine Alternative Investments Group, as the board of the struggling company and its creditors reached a broad debt-restructuring agreement.

Vine and funds managed by private equity firm Falcon Investment Advisors LLC will hold 60.2% and 6.3%, respectively, of EuropaCorp as they swap about $215 million of the studio's debt for new shares, according to a statement released by EuropaCorp late Friday. The stake of Besson's Front Line holding company is due to fall to 10.6% from 31.6% after the planned capital increases.

EuropaCorp was once considered one of the few successful European movie studios thanks to the profitable “Taken” and “Transporter” movies, though it had to seek protection from creditors in France and the U.S. last year as it racked up losses amid a string of recent flops.

Besson is an iconic French director, screenwriter and producer who founded EuropaCorp in 1999, with earlier film credits that include “The Fifth Element” and “The Professional.” He will remain the artistic director of the studio, according to the statement.

The restructuring is subject to approval by the French financial market regulator and by the studio's shareholder meeting, which is due to take place in coming months.

Under the agreement, Vine funds will lend $100 million to EuropaCorp to help it produce new movies, and EuropaCorp will repay 85.6 million euros ($94 million) of senior debt over 7 years to a group of French and U.S. banks, whose names weren't mentioned in the statement.

To contact the reporter on this story: Francois de Beaupuy in Paris at fdebeaupuy@bloomberg.net

To contact the editors responsible for this story: James Herron at jherron9@bloomberg.net, James Amott, Nate Lanxon

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