Key Points
- Filmhouse Holdings shareholders are in court due to a plan to sell 58.1% of the company to Trivos Film for N4.9 billion.
- Cerrerera Investment Services claims Cape Media, the main owner, ignored better offers from other buyers.
- Filmhouse and Cape Media deny secret deals.
Shareholders of Filmhouse Holdings, a company that operates movie theaters and distributes films, are in court over a plan to sell a big part of the company to Trivos Film and Media Limited for N4.9 billion. This involves selling 37,765,000 shares, which is 58.1% of the company.
Cerrerera Investment Services, a shareholder, claims that Cape Media Limited, the main owner, didn’t look at better offers from other buyers. They think this sale will hurt Filmhouse and its smaller shareholders.
Arguments Against the Sale
In court papers, Cerrerera’s lawyer, O. Adenaike Esq., argues that Filmhouse has 65,000,000 shares. Of these, 37,765,000 shares are owned by Cape, and Trivos already owns 17%. This means the planned sale would give Trivos more control.
Rajiv Mekkat from Cerrerera, who owns a small part (2.1%) of Filmhouse, says this sale undervalues Filmhouse. He mentions that other companies, Logical Pictures and Canury West Africa Limited (CWAL), offered more money for the shares, but Cape Media didn’t consider their offers.
For example, Logical Pictures offered to pay $8.7 million plus a management package of $3 million, while CWAL upped their offer from N6 billion to N8.5 billion. Cerrerera thinks this secret deal with Trivos is unfair.
Reactions from Filmhouse, Cape, and Trivos
Filmhouse’s representative, Hosea Udoh, says the company doesn’t own shares—shareholders do. He adds that Cape has not yet sold its shares and claims there are no secret deals with Trivos.
Udoh also points out that the supposed agreement for the sale is just a draft and not a binding contract. He argues that N4.9 billion doesn’t represent Filmhouse’s true value and that Cerrerera’s claim is baseless.
Next Steps
The court has set a hearing for November 14, 2024, to discuss these arguments in more detail.
Important Information
Filmhouse Holdings, started in 2012 by Kenechukwu Mkparu, Moses Babatope, and Kene Okwuosa, runs movie cinemas and distributes films. They have produced big Nollywood hits like “Wedding Party” and “A Tribe Called Judah.”