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Credit Lyonnais’s indirect financing and ownership of film
companies, including MGM.10
B. Consortium de Realisation
In 1995, Credit Lyonnais experienced a financial crisis.
Following the intervention of the French government, Credit
Lyonnais announced a restructuring program that was intended to
shore up its balance sheet going forward. Under the
restructuring program, Credit Lyonnais’s troubled investments and
loans, including its loans to film companies such as MGM, were
effectively transferred into a wholly owned subsidiary,
Consortium de Realisation (CDR). CDR was set up for the purpose
of liquidating and maximizing recovery on Credit Lyonnais’s “bad
assets”.
When CDR was set up, the Credit Lyonnais employees who were
working on the troubled entertainment loans were given the option
of transferring to CDR to continue working on those loans or
taking other positions within Credit Lyonnais. Rene-Claude
Jouannet, a longtime employee of Credit Lyonnais, transferred to
CDR, where he served as CDR’s general counsel.11
10 The Credit Lyonnais group’s loans to MGM and eventual
ownership of MGM are described in detail infra.
11 As we discuss infra, Mr. Jouannet played a significant
role in the transaction in which the Ackerman group acquired
SMHC.
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