IndependentFilm.com

NEW YORK, Oct. 24 /PRNewswire/ -- The Weinstein Company (TWC), the media enterprise launched this month by Bob and Harvey Weinstein, announced today that it has completed a $490 million private placement of equity. TWC has a significant number of well-known strategic, financial and individual investors among its equity holders, including affiliates of GLG Partners, Goldman, Sachs & Co., Perry Capital, Quinta Communications S.A., SOFTBANK CORP., TF1 S.A., WPP, a Mark Cuban investment company, Vivi Nevo, and a Todd Wagner investment company, among others. The Weinstein Company's Co-Chairmen, Bob and Harvey Weinstein, are the founders and former Co-Chairmen of Miramax Films.

Goldman, Sachs & Co. and Paul, Weiss, Rifkind, Wharton & Garrison LLP advised TWC on the transaction.

TWC has begun to assemble a world-class Board of Representatives and has named as members Dirk Ziff, Chairman of Ziff Brothers Investments; Tarak Ben Ammar, Chairman of Quinta Communications S.A; Mathilde Krim, a biomedical scientist and leader in the battle against HIV/AIDS worldwide as well as the Founding Chairman and Chairman of the Board of American Foundation for AIDS Research (amfAR), a world renowned charity that the Weinsteins have been very active in since its inception; Andrew Metcalfe, an Advisory Director of Goldman, Sachs & Co.; and Richard Koenigsberg, CPA and Partner at Spielman, Koenigsberg & Parker, LLP; Bob and Harvey Weinstein will serve as Co- Chairmen of TWC's Board of Representatives.

Bob and Harvey Weinstein said in a statement, "This is an extremely exciting day for us. Twenty-six years ago, we founded Miramax and named it after our parents, Miriam and Max, and we want to continue to pay tribute to our parents by naming our new company after them, The Weinstein Company. We are thrilled with the important relationships we have formed with our investors over the past few months. We couldn't be happier with the members of the Board whom we will be working closely with on an ongoing basis, building and operating The Weinstein Company. We have assembled an incredibly talented and dedicated team of executives and have the utmost confidence in all of them."

A Goldman Sachs spokesperson said: "We are very pleased to be a part of this exciting new venture and look forward to an ongoing relationship with The Weinstein Company."

TWC will continue to own and operate the successful Dimension Films genre label, which was created by Bob Weinstein during the Weinsteins' tenure at Miramax. TWC will handle its own marketing and distribution of theatrical releases in the United States. TWC will be announcing its distribution in other media and markets in the near future.

TWC is based in New York City and has offices in Los Angeles and London.

TWC's first theatrical release is "Derailed," the highly anticipated psychological thriller from Mikael Hafstrom starring Jennifer Aniston and Clive Owen, which will open in theaters nationwide on November 11, 2005. Other upcoming theatrical releases include "The Libertine," starring Johnny Depp, Samantha Morton, and John Malkovich, which opens on November 23rd; "Transamerica," a compelling comedy starring 2005 Emmy Award winner Felicity Huffman from Desperate Housewives, which opens December 2nd; "Mrs. Henderson Presents," the highly sought after film from director Stephen Frears starring Academy Award(R) winner Dame Judi Dench and Academy Award(R) nominated Bob Hoskins, which opens on December 9th; "The Matador," the hilarious black comedy, which was a smash hit out of Sundance and stars Pierce Brosnan, which opens on December 23rd; "Hoodwinked!," the first CGI animated film to be released by TWC with voiceovers by Glenn Close, Jim Belushi, Anne Hathaway, Anthony Anderson, and Xzibit, which opens on Christmas Day.

ABOUT THE WEINSTEIN COMPANY

The Weinstein Company was created by Bob and Harvey Weinstein, the brothers who founded Miramax Films Corp. in 1979. The Weinstein Company is a multi-media company that officially launched on October 1st, 2005. Dimension Films, the genre label that began with Miramax, will also be included under The Weinstein Company banner. The Weinsteins are actively working on the production, development and acquisition of projects for The Weinstein Company. While at Miramax, the Weinsteins released some of the most critically acclaimed and commercially successful independent feature films of the past decade. They received 249 Academy Award nominations and a record 16 Best Picture nominations over the past ten consecutive years. Some of these films include: "The Aviator," "Finding Neverland," "Chicago," "Gangs of New York," "In the Bedroom," "Chocolat," "The Cider House Rules," "Shakespeare In Love," "Life Is Beautiful (La Vita E Bella)," "Good Will Hunting," "The English Patient," "Il Postino (The Postman)," "Pulp Fiction," "The Piano" and "The Crying Game."

The Weinsteins have acquired the following titles to be released by The Weinstein Company: "Decameron," "The Libertine," "Last Legion," "Young Hannibal," "Hoodwinked!," "Transamerica," "Nomad," "Outlander," "Stormbreaker," "Lucky Number Slevin," and "Master of the Crimson Armor." Other titles to be released by The Weinstein Company include "Derailed," "The Matador," "Wolf Creek," "Mrs. Henderson Presents," "Kill Bill:NC 17," "Fast Track," "Breaking and Entering," "Scary Movie 4," "Sin City 2," "Pulse," "Passion of The Clerks," "Killshot," "Come Closer," "Awake," "Unknown," the fourth movie in the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles Series, "School for Scoundrels," and "Grind House." "Scary Movie 4" and "Killshot" are currently in production, and "Passion of the Clerks," "Awake," and "School for Scoundrels" are all expected to begin production in the next month.

Source: The Weinstein Company