News | Media & Communications

SJ Berwin LLP Advises British Film Entreprenuers on the Sale of Capitol Films

Monday 23rd January 2006

SJ Berwin LLP advised the three owners of Capitol Films Limited, Sharon Harel, Jane Barclay and Hannah Leader, on the sale of Capitol to LA based entrepreneurs David Bergstein and Ronald N. Tutor. 

Over the past 16 years, Capitol, which financed Robert Altman's Gosford Park, has become one of the most successful independent film companies in the world, with more than 100 films to its credit. 

The deal will put Capitol at the centre of a larger, international entertainment group with interests in film production, post-production, film library management and film sales. 

Bergstein and Tutor's Mobius Pictures, which most recently completed Bordertown and has produced films including Chaos and Laws of Attraction  (with Pierce Brosnan), will be merged into the group, which will go under the Capitol name. 

Capitol has handled worldwide distribution on more than 100 films, many of which it has financed or co-financed.  The company has made three films each with Woody Allen, Robert Altman and Bruce Willis.  Among its leading film library titles are Altman's Gosford Park, Roman Polanski's Death and the Maiden, and horror film favourite Jeeper's Creepers.

Hannah Leader, one of the selling shareholders and Capitol's Head of Legal and Business Affairs, said "We've enjoyed a long relationship with SJ Berwin's media team working together on many film projects.  We were pleased to be able to move seamlessly with them into this corporate transaction.  We found the combination of SJ Berwin's media and corporate expertise invaluable to successfully negotiating and closing the deal".

The SJ Berwin corporate team was led by corporate partners Steven Davis and Mark Sanders, assisted by Corrine Campbell and Ken Timon.  SJ Berwin's media team was led by media partner Nigel Palmer, who has advised Capitol for many years, assisted by Lisa Rishton.

David Bergstein and Ronald N. Tutor were advised by Alon Domb and Paul Toolan of Davenport Lyons.


Notes:
  • Founded in 1982, SJ Berwin is a leading City corporate and commercial law firm with more than 450 lawyers working across its offices in London, Berlin, Brussels, Frankfurt, Madrid, Milan, Munich, Paris and Turin.
  • With more than 200 corporate finance lawyers, the depth and breadth of expertise of our pan-European Corporate Finance Department is considerable. We offer the complete range of corporate finance services, which extends to all aspects of domestic and cross-border M&A and buy-outs, private equity, equity capital markets, financial services and tax.
  • SJ Berwin was created and thrives as a leading-edge legal services business, focusing on the European and international market place. Our clients are sophisticated buyers of legal services, principally entrepreneurial companies and financial institutions, whom we advise on a comprehensive range of services including Corporate Finance, Commercial, Real Estate, Banking, Reconstruction & Insolvency, Financial Services, Litigation, Employment & Pensions, EU & Competition and Tax.
  • Our approach has resulted in the firm winning a number of recent awards including "Law Firm of the Year" 2005 at the EVCA/Real Deals European Private Equity Awards for the second successive year," European Law Firm of the Year" (fund formation) by subscribers to PrivateEquityOnline and Private Equity International, "Private Equity Law Firm of the Year 2004" at the European Venture Capital journal awards 2004, "LBO Firm of the Year" 2004 at the Finance and Law Awards in Paris, "Real Estate Team of the Year" at The Lawyer Awards 2004, and "World's Leading Firm for Private Funds Expertise" in The International Who's Who of Business Lawyers 2003/4.
  • SJ Berwin LLP was named 'UK Firm of the Year' at the 2005 Legal Week Awards on 30th November. The awards recognised SJ Berwin's five years of international expansion and its involvement in a series of high quality deals. In April 2005 Head of Private Equity, Jonathan Blake, was named Global Lawyer of the Year in the Private Funds category by The International Who's Who of Business Lawyers 2004/2005. In November 2004, Jonathan Blake, was admitted to the British Venture Capital Association "Hall of Fame" for his services to the private equity industry over the last 20 years.
  • SJ Berwin's Media & Communications Group has extensive experience in almost every area of the media and communications industry, including film and television production, film finance, broadcasting and communications, digital media, merchandising and publishing, computer games, e-commerce and m-commerce and music.
  • Established in 1988, the Group is one of the City's leading practices and stands at the forefront of international media law with client quotes recorded in Chambers and Partners 2005 describing them as "magnificent" with "big city expertise and an entrepreneurial spirit that just makes deals happen".
 
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