Santa Monica Pictures, LLC, Perry Lerner, Tax Matters Partner - Page 79

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          which gave Generale Bank and CLIS the right to put their                    
          preferred interests in “Newco” to Rockport Capital.  Mr. Geary              
          testified that by the time of the draft letter agreement,                   
          “clearly there was going to be a second letter, a put letter.               
          That’s what I understood to be monetized.  There was a put                  
          available.  We didn’t have to wait, you know, for the time of the           
          deal.”  According to Mr. Geary, it was unimportant to CDR or Mr.            
          Jouannet what the letter agreement said about the terms of the              
          preferred interests and the conversion rights, because CDR was              
          relying on the side letter agreement that required Rockport                 
          Capital to purchase all of Generale Bank’s and CLIS’s preferred             
          interests for $5 million.                                                   
               Other than this “put” agreement, four points of negotiation            
          developed from CDR’s perspective:                                           
               First, CDR insisted that the $5 million advisory fee be paid           
          as a condition to closing on the exchange and contribution                  
          agreement and the $5 million put price be deposited in a blocked            
          account before closing, thus guaranteeing payment when the put              
          rights were exercised.  The banks decided that the put price                
          should be placed in escrow in connection with the closing on the            
          CDR transaction.  Mr. Geary drafted a deposit account agreement,            











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