Not Dead Yet: Investors Led By Ted Farnsworth Submit Offer for MoviePass Inc.
Former CEO of Helios & Matheson submits offer to acquire all assets including MoviePass Inc., MoviePass Films, MoviePass Ventures, and Moviefone
NEW YORK, NY – Sept. 17, 2019 – Financier Ted Farnsworth said today he has submitted an offer to purchase the assets of Helios and Matheson Analytics Inc. including MoviePass Inc., along with its intellectual property, licensing rights, patents, film library, and films in production.
The offer, which will require approval from Helios and Matheson’s board of directors, includes MoviePass, the nation’s premier movie subscription service; MoviePass Films, a film production company; MoviePass Ventures, a film co-acquisition company; and Moviefone, the leading movie listing and information service.
In order to avoid any conflicts of interest, Farnsworth has stepped down from his roles as Chairman and Chief Executive of Helios and Matheson, and from his position on the Board of Directors, thus recusing himself from consideration of offers for Helios and Matheson.
“I believe there is great unrealized value in MoviePass and we want to rebuild and make sure it reaches its full potential,” said Farnsworth. “I have always believed in the business model and the brand Mitch Lowe and I built at MoviePass. There’s tremendous appetite for movie theater ticket subscription.”
Terms of the offer were not disclosed.
“Despite the reams of pulp fiction that have been written about MoviePass, we know what went wrong along the way and the many things that went right, “ he said. “After all, we built the fastest growing subscription business in the history of merchandising and numerous copycats are out there now trying to capitalize on our model in the theater industry.”
Farnsworth said that pending acceptance of his bid he hopes to close on the transaction as soon as possible.
“We presided over the investment of hundreds of millions of dollars to build MoviePass and its family of companies,” Farnsworth said. “We are proud of what we built over the past two years and have no intention of walking away now. I believe in the company’s future and look forward to regaining the confidence of our members and former customers.”
He is a Rotten Tomatoes-approved critic, accredited by the Cannes Film Festival, Telluride Film Festival, Toronto International Film Festival and more, is a member of the International Cinephile Society (ICS), The Society of LGBTQ Entertainment Critics (GALECA), Hollywood Critics Association (HCA) and the International Press Academy. Among his many achieved goals with AwardsWatch, he has given a platform to underrepresented writers and critics and supplied them with access to film festivals and the industry and calls the Bay Area his home where he lives with his husband and son.
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