Kew Media Group faces administration as bank calls in debts

Line Of Duty

Kew Media Group (KMG) is facing administration after being served with a demand for payment from its senior creditor.

The future of the embattled producer and distributor has been in doubt since late last year, after it revealed shock third quarter results and the exit of its CFO Geoff Webb for financial irregularities.

The company’s stock tumbled and it defaulted on its credit facility in December, as revealed by TBI.

Its main creditor, Truist Bank, today issued a statement saying it had “accelerated the maturity date” for repaying debts owed, meaning around $70m will need to be refinanced.

The US investment bank said that after a 10-day notice period starting from today, it could then take steps to enforce action, which could effectively send cash-strapped KMG into administration or insolvency.

The statement said Truist had “demanded repayment of all amounts owing under the senior credit facilities” and delivered an enforcement notice under Canada’s Bankruptcy and Insolvency Act.

Frantic exit

Jamie Brown

The news comes just hours after Canadian producer Frantic Films became the latest company to buy itself out of the stricken group.

Frantic’s CEO Jamie Brown personally financed a deal to repurchase a 100% stake in the TV and film production company from Kew, which had acquired the prodco in March 2017.

Companies first started to look to exit the ailing group last year, as first reported by TBI, with firms such as Dance Moms producer Collins Avenue Entertainment being picked up by The Content Group, part of Steve Michael’s Asylum Entertainment Group.

Other deals have seen Glasgow-based producer Two Rivers Media buy out KMG’s stake after receiving support from Noble Grossart Investments and Channel 4’s Indie Growth Fund.

Kew was launched by Peter Sussman and Steven Silver in 2017 using an investment vehicle to acquire Content Media Corp and six other producers for a combined C$104m. It then added firms including TCB Media Rights, which is understood to be in the midst of extricating itself from KMG.