Entire Titanic Artifact Collection To Be Sold At Auction, Opening bid $21.5M
Possibly the only opportunity for individuals and institutions to bid on the iconic collection
NEW YORK, Sept. 17, 2018 /PRNewswire/ -- Premier Exhibitions (OTC: PRXIQ), Salvor-in-Possession of the Titanic wreck site, and currently in bankruptcy protection, has been authorized by the bankruptcy court to auction off all of its assets to a single buyer. Its primary asset is RMS Titanic, Inc., which owns a large collection of over 5,000 items salvaged from the Titanic's resting place on the ocean floor, in addition to an extensive collection of Titanic related intellectual property and exclusive salvage rights. There have been 8 dives from 1987 to 2010 where over 1,570 hours of video footage, including 260+ hours of 3D footage, and over 500,000 digital images have been recorded. Museum quality items in the collection include the iconic cherub from the Titanic's grand staircase and a unique and precious blue sapphire ring, among countless other priceless artifacts never previously available for sale.
https://www.cbsnews.com/pictures/titanics-jewels-on-display/6/
Currently, a consortium of hedge funds, including Apollo Global Management, LLC, Alta Fundamental Advisors, LLC, and PacBridge Capital Partners (HK) Ltd. have submitted an offer to buy the company's assets for $19.5M, being treated as a bid floor. Unless a competing buyer steps forward, the company's assets, including the entire Titanic collection, will be sold to this group for its $19.5M bid. As per the bidding procedures, a new buyer needs to submit, by October 5, 2018 at 4:00 p.m., a qualifying preliminary bid of at least $21.5M to enter the auction.
The auction itself will be held on October 11, 2018 at 10:00 a.m. The Bid Procedures Order (Doc. 1201) may be found at this link: http://upshotservices.s3.amazonaws.com/files/497d5a77-fff2-49a9-98f0-c32110ea0410/bcc79c9f-4585-4c3e-9c76-6a86ab69c2e4.pdf
Please refer to the Bid Procedures Order, and not the summary contained herein, for specifics about the bid procedures and the auction.
This may be the only time in history that this unique collection, with an appraised value of over $200M, will be made available to public buyers. The appraisal is attached as Exhibit C to an earlier sale motion (Doc. 28) which may be found at this link: http://upshotservices.s3.amazonaws.com/files/497d5a77-fff2-49a9-98f0-c32110ea0410/43d57d45-c3db-4ae5-8234-0921d913eaf0.pdf
While the new owner of the collection will be subject to certain Covenants and Conditions, the new owners will have the right to use the artifacts and to exhibit them publicly. Though ideally it will remain a unified collection, it may be possible to sell certain parts of the collection in a future sale. And while parts of the collection have maintenance conditions attached, numerous institutions are eager to work with the buyer to help them meet those requirements. In addition, operating partners have expressed interest in working with a buyer to assume oversight of Premier's existing exhibition business.
Please refer to the Bid Procedures Order for details about the sale process. Listed below are some of the important bidding procedure requirements for potential bidders:
Dates: Deadline to submit a Qualified Bid is October 5th at 4 p.m.
The Auction will be October 11th at the Troutman Sanders law firm in Atlanta, GA starting at 10 a.m.
The Sale Hearing to confirm the winning bidder will be October 18th at 10 a.m. before Judge Glenn in Jacksonville, FL.
Financial requirements: Minimum bid of $21,500,000 and a 10% deposit is required with the bid by October 5th at 4 p.m.
Other requirements: Bid increments at Auction will be $500,000. A form of asset purchase agreement is attached to the Sale Motion (Doc. 1055) and bidders must provide a substantially similar, same or better form with any bid. The Sale Motion (Doc. 1055) may be found at this link: http://upshotservices.s3.amazonaws.com/files/497d5a77-fff2-49a9-98f0-c32110ea0410/6f703865-1eb3-45b2-bb7f-c91e72148a8a.pdf
Interested bidders, both private and institutional, are encouraged to review the Bid Procedures Order (Doc. 1201) and to reach out to Brent C. Williams of Lincoln Partners Advisors LLC, financial advisor to the Equity Committee, for information about this notice. He can be reached at (212) 257-7750 or [email protected]. Potential bidders must contact the Debtors' financial advisors directly at the contact information provided in the Bid Procedures Order.
SOURCE Equity Committee of Premier Exhibitions
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