Panavision’s Financial Picture Appears to Be Shifting Out of Focus

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Panavision Inc. has been doing some financial acrobatics as of late.

The Woodland Hills-based company, one of Hollywood’s leaders in cameras and lighting equipment, is 96 percent owned by a holding company controlled by Ronald Perelman, whose estimated net worth is just under $5 billion, according to Forbes.


But Panavision’s November financial statements triggered concern on Wall Street that working capital had plunged 654 percent. This came after the company announced a $67 million working capital shortfall in August, shed an 80 percent stake in digital venture EFilm LLC to raise $25 million, and named former Miramax Co. CFO Ross Landsbaum as its new chief financial officer.


Panavision operates under several revolving lines of credit and long-term loans. A portion of a $135 million note was to come due in December, but financial statements indicated a cash-flow problem. An extension to January was worked out. A November filing states that Panavision “is currently in the process of negotiating a debt financing arrangement that will provide funds to enable the company to redeem the outstanding notes on or before Jan. 5, 2006.”


The filing notes that “there is no assurance that we will be able to obtain additional financing on terms favorable to the company, or at all.” Company executives declined to comment.



Dating Scandal?


The online dating world is in a buzz after Match.com and Yahoo personals have been sued by disgruntled daters, who claim that the companies set up fake dates and fictional suitors. (Match.com is owned by New York-based IAC/Interactive, Yahoo Inc. is based in San Jose.)


The lawsuit against Match.com, filed in U.S. District Court in Los Angeles, alleges that the company sends cute employees as “date bait” to go out with customers whose subscriptions are about to expire.


Orange County resident Matthew Evans is seeking class-action status (more than 1 million subscribers pay $30 per month for Match.com’s services). According to the suit, Evans went on several dates with an attractive, dark-haired 20-something woman before she confessed to him that she was a Match.com employee on the clock.


A Match.com spokeswoman said the case was without merit, adding that the company plans to defend itself. Yahoo declined to comment.


Since filing the lawsuit, attorney Mike Arias said his firm, Arias Ozzello & Gignac LLP, has been inundated with e-mails and phone calls from online daters with similar complaints about Match.com, as well as other online dating services. “We’re really trying to focus on Match because of the allegations in our suit,” Arias said. “But we’ve uncovered additionally some very consistent claims that people are making throughout the country.”


The Yahoo suit charges that its service sends scripted, flirty e-mails to customers whose subscriptions are about to expire.


Online dating has exploded into a $245 million industry and that’s just for the first half of 2005.



Angels in the Outfield


Tech Coast Angels, a Southern California network of private investors in start-up companies, announced that venture capital investments in the region are up more than 132 percent this year, to $84.3 million, among the 21 companies of the Tech Coast network.


“We’ve been seeing a consistent trend that for every dollar that Tech Coast Angeles invests, other venture capital funds invest $10,” said John Morris, a managing director at GKM Ventures and a Tech Coast Angel.



*Staff Reporter Hilary Potkewitz can be reached at (323) 549 5225 ext. 226, or by e-mail at

[email protected]

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