Magma Films - in liquidation

What follows is the three-page "Estimated Statement of Affairs" circulated to creditors at the Magma European Scripting House Ltd (t/a Magma Films) creditors meeting a week ago on July 31st. The accuracy of the unsigned estimated statement of affairs was contested by some creditors at the meeting.  The company has not filed accounts beyond the year ending 31 December 2008.

The listing of secured and unsecured creditors does not include loans totaling €3 million from the Irish Film Board because, I am told, they are 'non-recourse' loans that are only repayable from revenue deriving from IFB-supported production and development assets.  Therefore, any income flowing from those assets is not available in the first instance to the company's liquidator in order to discharge the company's debts to creditors.  My own impression, having attended the meeting, is that this was not made clear to creditors.

To summarise, Magma Films owes €3 million to the IFB which is repayable only from film, TV and certain intellectual property revenues.  Magma Films has a further €5 million in debts made up of preferential creditors, secured creditors, trade and other creditors, and director and shareholder loans.

The company appointed Eugene McMahon of Mazars Tierney, Galway, as liquidator. Mazars are auditors to a related company, Abbeygate Productions Limited, which is the special purpose vehicle company through which Section 481 funding was raised with Anglo Irish Bank in 2007 for an animation series, Simsala Grimm II.  Transactions between MESH Ltd and Abbeygate Productions Ltd continued into 2011.