TWC(NEW YORK) — The sale of The Weinstein Company is off, at least for now.
Talks between TWC and a group of investors led by former Small Business Administration chief Maria Contreras-Sweet broke down after New York Attorney General Eric Schneiderman filed a lawsuit Sunday evening, a source familiar with the negotiations told ABC News.
At this point a sale is looking “unlikely,” the source said.
Schneiderman and Contreras-Sweet were supposed to talk Monday about the terms of the deal, which she had not been able to discuss due to a non-disclosure agreement, the source said. The lawsuit made that conversation moot.
Schneiderman filed a lawsuit that named the company, Harvey Weinstein and Bob Weinstein as the deal was about to close in part out of fear alleged victims of Harvey Weinstein’s sexual misconduct would not be properly compensated.
The investor group had offered to put aside $50 million for victim compensation and re-imagined the company as female-led. Schneiderman disputed that those terms had been assured.
“As of yesterday there was no deal that would have met these standards,” Schneiderman said.
He added that he is open to a sale, noting that at this stage he is not seeking a temporary restraining order to block one.
Representatives for The Weinstein Company and Bob Weinstein could not be reached over the weekend to discuss the lawsuit, though Harvey Weinstein’s attorney Ben Brafman said that many of the allegations against his client are “without merit.”
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