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Former executives of the company that owned hundreds of millions of dollars in artifacts from the RMS Titanic, as well as the future salvage rights, but sold them and other assets for $19.5 million – a fraction of their worth – must pay $11.75 million to the liquidating trust for the confirmed Titanic Chapter 11 plan, in an agreement reached recently in U.S. Bankruptcy court in Jacksonville.
“The settlement brings an end to a nine-year case and another perplexing twist in the saga of the Titanic,” said Robert Charboneau of Agentis PLLC in Coral Gables, one of the attorneys leading the effort for the liquidating trust for Premier Exhibitions.
“Premier Exhibitions owned the rights to approximately 5,300 RMS Titanic artifacts. But in June of 2016, RMS Titanic, along with several affiliates, filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection. While the assets were valued in the years leading up to the filing from anywhere between $100 million and $300 million, the debtor sold the assets in June of 2019 to a buyer group of former equity holders and creditors for total consideration of $19.5 million.”
The Official Committee of Equity Holders appointed by the U.S. Trustee fought for and obtained derivative standing from the bankruptcy court to pursue breach of fiduciary duty claims to against the debtor’s officers and directors for a failed sale process that yielded a fraction of what the assets should have brought in a properly run sales process.
“That litigation was hard fought over a period of over five years. After the debtor’s Chapter 11 plan was confirmed, the liquidating trustee, Mark Healey of Michael Moecker & Associates, continued the case brought by the Equity Committee and resolved the case following a mediation earlier this spring that continued into the summer,” Charbonneau said.
“The settlement brings a significant sum into the liquidating trust. While projected distributions cannot yet be ascertained, I would not be surprised to see creditors have, if not all, most of their claims paid through this settlement.”
A truly team effort, Jason Mazer of Mazer Law PA and David Charles Cimo of Cimo Mark PLLC co-counseled the case with Charbonneau.
About Agentis
Agentis focuses on business and commercial disputes, business restructuring, insolvency, and bankruptcy in a variety of industries including aviation, real estate, housing, healthcare, leisure, retail, telecommunications, hospitality, and entertainment. The firm is highly ranked in Chambers USA, Best Lawyers of America, U.S. News Best Lawyers and the South Florida Legal Guide’s Top Lawyers.
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