Cinar's legal woes continue

Canadian toon producer Cinar Corp is battling legal charges once again. This time, action has been brought against the beleaguered Montreal studio by former shareholders of Twin Sisters Productions, a US children's record label and publisher that Cinar purchased last year to beef up its education division.

The lawsuit was recently launched in the United States District Court alleging misrepresentations relating to earn-out clauses and other considerations negotiated during Cinar's acquisition of Twin Sisters in February 2000.

A statement released by Cinar stressed that the suit {should not affect Twin Sisters' day-to-day operations, nor should it affect the subsidiary's projects in support of Cinar's ongoing business.{

The company also recently released unaudited financial information. Revenues for the year ended November 30, 2000 were C$153.1m (US$98m), down 11% over last year's numbers.

The decrease is being attributed to lower revenues from the company's entertainment division.

Cinar's education division however, was profitable with revenues of C$77.2m, (US$49.4m), increasing 16.5% over last year.