MUMBAI: A US bankruptcy court has approved the sale of Academy Award-winning visual effects and animation studio Rhythm & Hues to a wholly-owned affiliate of Los Angeles-based Prana Studios, which has Mahindra Group chairman Anand Mahindra as one of the investors.

At a hearing held in US Bankruptcy Court in Los Angeles on Friday, Judge Neil Bason approved Prana Studios affiliate 34x118 Holdings as the winning bidder after a two-day auction.

Prana Studios is a U.S. animation and visual effects studio with offices in Los Angeles and Mumbai, India.

The winning bid also had to be approved by Twentieth Century Fox and Universal Pictures. Apart from 34x118 Holdings, the auction process saw bidding from Prime Focus World, a subsidiary of Mumbai-based Prime Focus and Brave Vision Investments, which is connected to Chinese-American film distributor China Lion Film Distribution.

As many as five bids were received till 22 March, the last day of bidding. However, only two bids were deemed qualified.

According to media reports, the winning bid includes $1.2 million of cash, liabilities of up to $17 million, and certain other payment and debt obligations.

"Our partnership will allow R&H to continue the business of creating world-class digital imagery," said Prana Studios SVP, VFX Jeffrey A. Okun.

Okun said R&H will remain a standalone company focusing on cutting-edge visual effects and innovative technology.

"R&H will be complimented by Prana?s world-class long-form animation. Our complimentary talents and relationships will create a new, best-in-class one-stop boutique provider of digital imagery to clients globally. With the additional support of our strong investor group, we are confident R&H will continue to be the innovative quality leader in our field that they?ve been for 30 years. We are thankful to Universal and Fox for their overwhelming support," he added.

The company?s assets were acquired from the court by 34x118 Holdings, which is the new operating company.

Allan Soong of Deliotte CRG will serve as Chief Restructuring Officer of the new operating company, and will work with Lee Berger as President, Erika Burton as Co-President, and Gautham Krishnamurthy as CTO to restructure the operations while maintaining the creative expertise which comprises the heart and soul of the R&H brand.

"This is a positive outcome to a difficult situation," said Lee Berger , "and we are thrilled to be able to put this process behind us. We are grateful for Prana?s support as well as the support of their investor group, and are excited to begin the next chapter of R&H?s history."

Mahindra Group chairman Anand Mahindra said, "We are delighted to have been early-stage investors in Prana Studios. This bold move will make them the animation / VFX leaders with global delivery capability and will substantially increase the scale and complexity of their work."

Founder of Sherpalo Ventures and Google Board member Ram Shriram said, "I am excited for Prana - the best at full service digital animation, and now digital VFX. This new arrangement allows for a single stop, stable long term solution for all the digital creative needs of the studios."

Nexus Venture Partners Co-founder Naren Gupta stated, "Prana?s focus on high-quality animation and VFX is a cost-effective business model that has made us a favorite partner of leading studios around the world. Acquisition of Rhythm & Hues will allow us to offer an even broader platform to our partners. Prana and its founders are continuing to innovate the way high-quality creative activities should be performed. I remain a huge fan of Prana and its management team."

Peter M. Gilhuly of Latham & Watkins, Andrew Walter of Evolution Media Capital, and PJ Shapiro of Ziffren, Brittenham and Branca represented Prana Studios, Inc. in the negotiations. Brian L. Davidoff of Greenberg Glusker represented Rhythm & Hues.

Rhythm & Hues is a global production powerhouse for the creation of visual effects and animation for Hollywood movies. Among its 145 screen credits are "Life of Pi," "The Golden Compass" and "Babe," Academy Award winners for Achievement in Visual Effects, (in 2012, 2008, and 1995 respectively). R&H is also the recipient of four Scientific and Technical Awards from the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences (AMPAS).

With headquarters in El Segundo, California, and additional facilities in Mumbai & Hyderabad, Kuala Lumpur, Vancouver, and Kaohsiung, R&H Films offers filmmakers a dynamic creative resource with a vast array of technology and talent.

MUMBAI: The Tribune Company, which owns eight newspapers and 23 TV stations, has said that it has emerged from its Chapter 11 restructuring process on 31 December, which will mark the end of a four-year old bankruptcy.

The company has also appointed its new Board of Directors, effective 31 December which includes Bruce Karsh, Ken Liang, Peter Murphy, Ross Levinsohn, Craig A. Jacobson, Peter Liguori, and Eddy Hartenstein.

Tribune?s new Board of Directors will convene its first meeting in the next several weeks, at which time it will define the roles of its members, its committee structure, and designate and ratify the company?s executive officers.

Tribune chief executive officer Eddy Hartenstein will remain in his current role until that time, the company said.

The company?s plan of reorganisation was confirmed by the US Bankruptcy Court for the District of Delaware in July, and the Federal Communications Commission granted Tribune the necessary transfer applications and waivers in November.

In connection with emergence, Tribune will close on a new $1.1 billion senior secured term loan and a new $300 million asset based revolving credit facility. The term loan will be used to fund certain required payments under the plan of reorganization, and the revolving credit facility will be used to fund ongoing operations.

"Tribune will emerge from the bankruptcy process as a multi-media company with a great mix of profitable assets, strong brands in major markets and a much-improved capital structure," said Hartenstein.

"The company?s greatest asset, however, is its employees who, individually and collectively, have remained focused on serving our viewers, readers, advertisers and communities with a single-minded sense of purpose and dedication. I want to thank all our employees for their talent and effort throughout this four-year process."

In addition, Tribune?s pre-petition credit facilities and outstanding notes and debentures will be cancelled and extinguished, and its pre-petition common stock will be cancelled. Upon completion of all distributions under the plan of reorganisation, Tribune will have issued to former creditors a mix of approximately 100 million shares of new class A common stock and new class B common stock and new warrants to purchase shares of new class A or class B common stock.

"In accordance with our restructuring plan, Tribune?s subsidiary creditors and vendors will be receiving payment in full-100 per cent recovery of what they are owed," said Hartenstein. "These long-term relationships are very important to the company and we are pleased to be successfully resolving these obligations."