Leading Italian restoration company L’Immagine Ritrovata’s acquisition of renowned film lab Eclair Cinéma, announced last month, is expected to be approved by the French Commercial Court of Nanterre, according to a source familiar with the deal.
Eclair Cinema is a subsidiary of the Ymagis Group’s Eclair business unit. It oversaw post-production and restoration activities in France before being placed in receivership in 2018.
L’Immagine Ritrovata’s French subsidiary, L’Image Retrouvée, last month signed a binding letter with the Paris-based Ymagis Group, a key European player in digital technologies for the film industry, to take over Eclair Cinema.
Since entering receivership, Eclair subsid Eclair Cinema has undergone major restructuring and is now focused solely on content restoration, an area of expertise in which it is a leader in France, boasting more than 750 feature film restorations. The subsidiary generated €2.32 million ($2.55 million) in revenue from its core restoration business in the first half of 2019.
The agreement is specifically for Eclair Cinema and does not include any of the 21 other companies doing business under the Eclair brand in France or other countries, including the U.K., Germany and Spain.
Source: Italy’s L’Immagine Ritrovata Expected to Buy France’s Eclair Cinema – Variety