Recent Restructuring and Acquisitions
In May 1997, Panavision announced it would be purchasing Visual Action Holdings PLC, a major film services group for $61m (£37.5m). The British-based company was formally known as Samuelson Group PLC. The company operated three rental depots in the UK and was main agent for Panavision in France and Australia. It also had smaller rental operations in New Zealand, Singapore, Malaysia and Indonesia. Crucially, it controlled three Panavision agencies in the US cities of Atlanta, Chicago and Dallas (acquired from Victor Duncan, Inc.). Panavision CEO William C Scott said, "This transaction provides Panavision with a strong platform on which to grow the international side of our business and also completes our company-controlled distribution system in the US. Additionally, we will immediately expand our presence in key Southeast Asia markets, where television and film activity are expect to grow rapidly. Overall, the transaction enables us to control a true worldwide distribution network for Panavision’s camera systems and related products, one of our most important strategic objectives." Ronald Perelman's solely owned MacAndrews & Forbes Holdings (Mafco) acquired a majority interest in Panavision in 1998, via a Mafco subsidiary. The company was turned over to its creditors in 2010 following a debt restructuring agreement. After aborted attempts to create a film-style video camera in the 1970s and 1980s, Panavision joined the digital revolution in July 2000, establishing DHD Ventures in partnership with Sony. The new company's objective was to raise the quality of high definition digital video to the standards of top-level Hollywood motion-picture production. This cooperative venture was established, largely at the instigation of George Lucas, to serve his designs for the Star Wars prequels. The collaboration resulted in the Sony HDW-F900 CineAlta HDCAM high definition video camera. Sony produced the electronics and a stand-alone version of the camera; Panavision supplied custom-designed high definition lenses, trademarked Primo Digital, and retrofitted the camera body to incorporate standard film camera accessories, facilitating the equipment's integration into existing crew equipment as a "digital cinema camera." This Panavision HD-900F, was used in the making of Lucasfilm's Star Wars Episode II: Attack of the Clones (2002), described as "the first digital major feature film." Panavision's next step in the evolution of digital cinema cameras also involved collaboration between Sony and Panavision; this time, Panavision participated in all the stages of development. The aim was to create a system that could use the entire range of the company's 35 mm spherical lenses. This led to the 2004 introduction of the Genesis HD—a full bandwidth (4:4:4) HD SDI camera with improved colorimetry- and sensitometry-related specs. Its Super 35 mm film–sized recording area made it focally compatible with regular 35 mm lenses, giving it a true 35 mm depth of field. The camera's electronics—including its CCD (charge-coupled device) image sensor—and HDCAM SR record deck were manufactured by Sony. The chassis and mechanics were designed by a Panavision team led by Albert Mayer Jr., son of the Panaflex designer. The Genesis was first used on Superman Returns(2006) followed soon after by Flyboys (2006); But the comedy Scary Movie 4 (2006), shot afterward on a mixture of 35mm film and the Genesis, actually went into general release first because of the extensive visual effects work needed to complete both Flyboys and Superman Returns. Subsequent to the completion of major design work on the Genesis, Panavision bought out Sony's 49 percent share of DHD Ventures and fully consolidated it in September 2004.
During the same period, Panavision began acquiring related motion picture companies, including EFILM (acquired 2001; sold to Deluxe in full by 2004), Technovision France (2004), the motion picture camera-rental arm of the Canadian rental house William F. White International (2005), the digital camera rental company Plus8Digital (2006), the international lighting and equipment company AFM and the camera company One8Six (2006), and the camera inventory of Joe Dunton & Company (2007). On July 28, 2006, Mafco announced it was acquiring the remaining Panavision stock and returning the company to private status. A $345 million credit line from Bear Stearns and Credit Suisse was secured to finance the company's debt as well as to facilitate "global acquisitions." That same year, Mafco acquired Deluxe Entertainment Services Group.
In March 2010, citing a drop in production and difficulty servicing significant debt as a result of the 1998 Mafco transaction, shareholder MacAndrews & Forbes agreed to a debt restructuring arrangement with Panavision's creditors. Private equity firm Cerberus Capital was the lead investor in the deal, which involved a USD $140 million reduction in debt and a USD $40 million cash infusion. In return the majority shareholder Ronald Perelman was required to relinquish control of Panavision, and he no longer has any equity in the company.
Read more about this topic: Panavision