Under this settlement, L’Image Retrouvée will purchase the shares of Eclair Cinéma and the latter’s present accounts held by Ymagis, topic to approval of a continuation plan for Eclair Cinéma SAS by the Commercial Court of Nanterre.
Eclair Cinéma SAS was positioned in receivership in November 2018 and has undergone main restructuring, begun in early 2019. The firm has since been specializing in restoration actions, an space of experience by which it’s the chief in France, with over 750 characteristic movies restored. During the primary half of 2019, the exercise generated income of €2.32m.
Through this operation, Ymagis Group secures the longer term of its restoration actions by teaming up with a world reference for the restoration of the world’s movie heritage. L’Image Retrouvée is a French-registered firm owned by L’Immagine Ritrovata and Italian firm Simest, a subsidiary of the Cassa depositi e prestiti Group that’s specialised in lending help to Italian corporations wishing to develop on the worldwide market.
The transaction ensures continuity of service for Eclair Cinéma’s prospects, significantly due to the truth that the overwhelming majority of the workforce have been retained, the signature of a licence settlement for the use of the Eclair trademark and a industrial settlement relating to a quantity of Eclair’s different actions.
For Jean Mizrahi, President and CEO of Ymagis Group, “This agreement with L’Image Retrouvée is the culmination of our efforts to find a positive outcome to the difficult position in which Eclair Cinéma found itself. Above and beyond the beneficial effect on the dynamics of Ymagis Group, the operation ensures the long-term future of these highly technical restoration activities which are key to the valuation of France’s cinema heritage.”
For David Pozzi, CEO of L’Image Retrouvée, “It is an agreement between two companies, which play a major role in film restoration and which have already worked together on joint projects in the past. This continuation plan is part of a desire to secure the long-term future of operations and achieve the highest possible quality work. The Eclair brand, of which Eclair Cinema is a part, is a significant actor in the history and tradition of the major French laboratories, and it is an immense honour for me personally to now be able to play an increasing role in film restoration in France.”
