As a long-time fan of “Octonauts” and many other Silvergate productions, I find myself deeply invested in this legal saga between Sony Pictures (my beloved studio) and the Wanda Group. It’s like watching a thrilling episode of a courtroom drama series, but without the popcorn and a clear winner yet.
Sony Pictures is suing the Wanda Group for $49 million.
The ongoing legal battle, initiated at London’s High Court back in March, involves the respective subsidiaries of both companies: Columbia Pictures Corporation Limited and Wanda Kids Cultural Development Co., Limited.
The ongoing court case can be traced back to a deal made between Silvergate Group Holdings and Wanda Hong Kong all the way back in 2017.
Sony bought Silvergate in 2019.
The legal claim asserts that Wanda Hong Kong, one of Wanda’s affiliated companies, entered into an agreement to acquire a 51% share in Silvergate-owned Vampire Squid Productions for approximately $38.25 million in the year 2017.
Vampire Squid serves as an umbrella corporation, encompassing several prosperous assets from Silvergate, such as the popular, long-standing cartoon show “Octonauts.
The contract contained a clause stating that Wanda had the right to buy up to 41% of Silvergate’s ownership in Vampire Squid, with the purchasing price being determined by the company’s financial results and set for a future time.
As a cinephile, I found myself thrilled when Sony acquired Silvergate. With this new ownership, Silvergate transferred its rights, even those specified in the option agreement, to Columbia Pictures. In turn, Columbia shared their intention with Wanda that they would exercise the option stated in the agreement and complete the transfer of a 41% share, appraised at a whopping $87.4 million.
Following Wanda’s challenge of the appraised value, both parties consented to seek advice from a neutral accountant to establish an acceptable figure. Nevertheless, no accountant was appointed subsequently, as claimed by Columbia Pictures, due to alleged delays and obstruction caused by Wanda in the process of the accountant’s appointment.
Due to Wanda’s “inadequate involvement” in the share transfer procedure, Columbia decided to make some concessions and ultimately agreed on a final price of $49 million. However, they expressed that Wanda persistently delayed, declining to participate in a meeting to complete the share transfer and neglecting to fulfill the payment for the sale.
Columbia Pictures is currently trying to recover $49 million, which includes interest, as a result of the financial losses and damages they’ve incurred.
Previously this year, before submitting a defense, Wanda requested the court to discard the lawsuit. The reason given was that the legal documents were not correctly delivered to the Hong Kong-based company. However, this week, a judge from the High Court of London decided that the service was sufficient and Columbia is now allowed to proceed with their lawsuit.
Sony Pictures and Wanda Group, chaired by Wang Jianlin, established a joint financing agreement back in 2016. However, this collaboration was short-lived, as the business entities decided to go separate ways less than a year later.
Wanda was among the top-tier Chinese entertainment firms until 2018, but it has since remained the nation’s leading cinema chain operator.
I’ve reached out to the spokespersons at Columbia Pictures Corporation Limited and Wanda Kids Cultural Development Co., seeking their response.
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2024-11-21 18:20