As the Walt Disney Company began weighing three potentially viable bids for its inactive Miramax Films unit, a central question became not so much who will own the ministudio but what exactly will it be.
By late Monday, three offers for the studio had come in, according to people who were briefed on the process but spoke on condition of anonymity to protect their positions in the sale. Each of those potential owners — if Disney indeed accepts any of the offers — brings strikingly different prospects to what was once Hollywood’s best-known independent film company.
One, an all-cash bid for about $550 million, came from the brothers Tom, Alec and Sam Gores, independent investors who have interests in the entertainment industry, including Sam Gores’s control of Paradigm, a major talent agency.
Another offer, which was described as including a large portion in cash and some phased payments amounting to $600 million, came from the Yucaipa Companies, which are controlled by Ronald W. Burkle, in partnership with the former Miramax owners Bob and Harvey Weinstein, A third came from the investor David Bergstein, with a value that is said to be near $700 million.
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