Bank closes in on Kew Media

US-based Truist Bank has demanded repayment of embattled Canadian producer-distributor Kew Media’s debts, issuing an enforcement notice under the country’s Bankruptcy and Insolvency Act.

Truist told the Canadian stock exchange today it had become the Canuck company’s main creditor and “accelerated the maturity date and terminated the commitments under Kew’s senior credit facilities.”

Kew has ten days to pay back the debt and told staff arriving for work on Friday morning at its LA office they were being laid off and the company was entering administration.

The Truist statement continued: “Truist has demanded repayment of all amounts owing under the senior credit facilities and delivered a Notice of Intention to Enforce Security under Section 244 of the Bankruptcy and Insolvency Act to Kew and Kew Media International.

“Following a 10-day notice period, Kew’s senior lenders may take steps to enforce on their security.”

It leaves the ailing group on the brink of folding after a disastrous few months.

The news comes on the day Frantic Films CEO Jamie Brown announced he had completed a management buyout of the firm Kew initially purchased back in 2017.

Frantic is the latest firm to beat a hasty retreat from Kew following Dance Moms producer Collins Avenue, Scottish outfit Two Rivers, and London-based distributor TCB Media, which C21 exclusively revealed was negotiating a potential sale or management buyout in January that is now in its final stages.

Kew ran into difficulties at the end of 2019 when it announced that financial statements from chief financial officer Geoff Webb contained inaccurate information with regards to working capital.

Webb left Kew and internal investigations were launched. Last month, the company was forced to withdraw from the Toronto Stock Exchange when auditor Grant Thornton withdrew previously released reports on the firm owing to an “inability to rely on representations he [Webb] made to Grant Thornton in the course of its audits and review of Kew’s financial statements.”

Kew acquired 10 production companies, including Content Media Corp (CMC), prior to its public launch in March 2017 by Peter Sussman and Steven Silver.

Bristow Global Media, CMC and Sienna Films are among the firms still under the umbrella of the troubled outfit, which also holds a minority stake in Awesome Media & Entertainment.