
The Alliance Atlantis Communications (AAC-B) saga may be finally coming to an end as Goldman Sachs Group Inc. (GS), in a joint takeover of the company with CanWest Global Communications Inc. ( CGS)for $2.3 billion, begins running operations this week. Goldman is providing the bulk of the funding.
It looks like Goldman Sach Group will work with the Motion Picture Distribution LP, a Canadian Management team to run operations. Alliance owned 51 percent of Motion Picture Distribution, with the other 49 percent being held by Movie
Distribution Income Fund, a publically traded trust on the Toronto Stock Exchange.
As Canadian foreign ownership laws require majority Canadian ownership, Goldman will have to divest itself of a couple of percentages of the company to adhere to the regulations. Goldman is also required to have a Canadian management team in place to run the company.
Victor Loewy, one of the key participants in the long-term battle with the company, may be one of the key figures appointed by Goldman Sachs to run the management team.
The battle began when two of his executives in the company were fired without being consulted. He quit for a few months and then came back again when both sides were about to enter into a lawsuit.
Loewy came back to the company to specifically watch over the contract that Alliance Atlantis has with New Line Cinema, which is directly tied to Loewy being employed with the company.







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