No mention of proposed Muppet series on FOX

[Luke]

Yeah they had this deadline of October but i wouldn't bother believing that - they'll likely hang onto them till mid next year unless they get an offer they can't refuse. Makes more sense to collect the money and then sell, now that the money is actually starting to come in.

 

[BoyRaisin2]

Is this official or your "media perspective?"

Better be perspective...

 

[Luke]

LOL - yeah thats my completely unofficial media perspective - educated, informed and at no charge - but if we are to believe the official line then my butt can play 'Rainbow Connection' on the Banjo ! ;-)

 

[BoyRaisin2]

You lost me at the word "butt."

But really, since Disney IS the most "likely" buyer of the Henson Company, are they "trying" to raise more money for a purchase? I understand they are--like other media companies--kinda in a slump, but are they still able to cough up however much money to buy from EM.TV? And how about EM.TV? Are they "waiting" for Disney (or whoever) to make an offer?

Really, I'm getting annoyed. It's been a year.

 

[frogboy4]

Disney made their position clear a long time ago. They have a cap on what they are willing to pay for the Muppet empire and they don't seem willing going over that cap. EMTV has been plagued with poor decisions and shady deals so I wouldn't expect them to be very wise on the issue. However they are smart to milk all they can in this aniversary year. What Disney has offered is actually reasonable, but EMTV doesn't seem to want to admit they overpaid and take the loss. Things are at a standstill until somebody budges. I am sure that if it came to a bidding war, Disney would win. I just don't see too many companies fighting over the Muppets these days. With this push in advertising (borderlining on exploitation - not that I'm complaining much) they just might raise more interest in the product. My advice - be patient. It will happen...we are just stuck watching a very lengthy staring contest.

 

[BoyRaisin2]

But it's been a year! A YEAR! I want my merger! I want my publicity photos, press releases, articles, and other assorted images, darn it!

I'm giving them 'til October. If nothing happens, I'm flying to Munich to kick some tail.

 

[frogboy4]

You tell those crazy germans. LOL! Seriously, things like this just take time.

 

[Luke]

Well y'know i went to Munich to kick some tail but i just came back with sausages ! ;-)

The Frogboy is right. EMTV paid way over the top for the Henson Company, and even so - are still restricted by all the nifty little clauses the Henson Company had put into the contract. They need to get a lot more money than they are being offered right now and until then, they'll just sit back and milk the Muppets and the Henson Company for all they are worth. As Jamie said, they'll be hoping that the increased media profile also brings new bidders on board that might make Disney put their hands a little deeper into their pockets.

I have heard that there has been (emphasis on the past tense) other large companies other than Disney interested in buying JHC, and also that the management buy-out has been dead in the water for ages, EMTV even had smaller media companies offering more than Rivkin was, the only argument he had was that it was the right thing to do to sell back to a 'family company' but EMTV aren't so sympathetic and family orientated now they actually own the company.

As Jamie said, there aren't that many large players fighting over the Muppets so it really does come down to a EMTV/Disney roadblock - it'll probably take EMTV to get in even deeper financial troubles for them to relent, and if they really won't give in and end up going bankrupt then frog knows what will happen to the Henson Company - it could just lead to a straightforward bidding war, but in the event a liquidator couldn't get a decent price for the company then they could decide to sell off the assets seperately if the facilities, characters, tape library, show rights, creature shop were worth more seperately - i know it's scary to think about but it could well happen in a worse case scenario !

 

[BoyRaisin2]

Yes, yes, that WOULD suck. Fine, I'll wait.

I'll just keep making the fake press releases I've been doing for the past two years.

I have a question though, what are those "nifty little clauses" the Henson Company put into the contract. The only members of the Henson Family really involved with the company (in a corporate sense) are Brian and Lisa, right?

When I'm older, I'm producing a documentary about this.

 

[Luke]

Nobody knows for sure outside of the informed circles, but there definitely are restrictions in the contracts. It's not uncommon when doing these kind of international deals for the smaller company to use smarter, more expensive lawyers in order to keep as much control as possible back from the new parent company.

In Henson's case, and this is taking a guess, it seems that while EMTV can make them actually produce new shows, movies, merchandise and advertising - the Henson Company seem to have control of what the actual characters do and how they are presented. Also while EMTV have control of how the Henson programme library is sold and distributed internationally, they seem to have less control over what happens in the USA. Add to that, when these parent companies usually take over they usually replace the more senior members on the board of directors with stooges from their own company, with JHC/EMTV this didn't really happen, they still used people from within Henson. So all in all, even though they own the company, EMTV are still to a degree, on the outside, and apparently (informed rumor time) they are quite unhappy and frustrated about that.

Brian and Lisa are the only ones corporately involved, but i think, as we can take from Muppetfest, it's still very much a family thing and people are still around.